June 27, 2023 Weekly Rewind by League1 Ontario staff (from League1 Ontario website)
Weekly Rewind
By League1 Ontario staff, 06/27/23, 9:30AM EDT
BIG WINS IN BOTH DIVISIONS AND TOP TEAMS DROPPING POINTS AS THE PRESSURE BEGINS TO MOUNT.
Burlington gained ground on the playoffs with an eventful victory over North Toronto Nitros
A pair of wins
St Catharines Roma Wolves got back to winning ways in the Women’s Premier Division with a 3-1 victory against ProStars
on Friday night. The result moves them into 13th and four points off a playoff spot, while ProStars remain rooted
to the bottom of the table.
In the Men’s Premier Division, Guelph United needed three points on their visit to Darby to keep them within touching
distance of the division’s top sides. The away side picked up the win through a strike from Milan Beader – the only goal
of the game.
Top-of-the-table battles continue
It was an action-packed day in the men’s division on Saturday with six games taking place.
Blue Devils kept up their winning form as they beat Unionville Milliken. It looked like the pacesetters may drop points
as they struggled to find the breakthrough, but Brandon Duarte scored a 74th-minute winner.
Scrosoppi matched their rivals by securing a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Windsor City, and moved to the top
of the table on total wins. Tomasz Skublak scored a brace in the first half before Taha Ilyass, a 2022 Premier Division
runner-up with Blue Devils, rounded off the performance with a debut goal for Scrosoppi having switched from Hamilton United.
North Toronto Nitros headed into their home game against Burlington as slight favourites due to being four points ahead
in the table, but were two goals down within the first ten minutes. While the hosts did manage to make it 2-1 before
the break, both teams scored again in the second half with the match ending 3-2 to Burlington. The result sees
North Toronto Nitros slip to sixth, one point ahead of Burlington who have clawed themselves back into the playoff race
after a run of one win in five.
Alliance United left it late in their game against North Mississauga, Theodore Yohannes Afework finding the back of the net
in the 85th minute to give his side victory.
Our two other Men’s Premier Division fixtures on Saturday ended all square. ProStars and St Catharines Roma Wolves scored
one goal each in their matchup. Kuhle Bekwayo was the hero for FC London; his second-half brace rescued a point for his
side against Electric City.
We had high-scoring wins in the Women’s Premier Division as Alliance United and Electric City both turned on the style.
Alliance United’s emphatic 5-0 victory against Tecumseh sees them sit in third place after the weekend’s action,
Madison Mariani scoring a hat-trick to take her to ten goals for the campaign. Electric City put four past Darby and now
sit not only one point shy of the top six, but with a stronger hold on a top-division spot on the Road to 2024.
North Toronto Nitros secured a narrow 1-0 win over BVB IA Waterloo and sit in second place, four points behind leaders
Vaughan Azzurri and with a game in hand.
Delight for Vaughan
Sunday was a near-perfect day for the Azzurri. In the Women’s Premier Division they put on an incredible second-half display
by scoring five goals against Guelph Union, who did have a 1-0 lead at the break, to keep their place at the top of the division.
What’s even sweeter for Vaughan is that their main title rivals, NDC Ontario, dropped points for the first time this season
in their 2-2 tie with Blue Devils. The champions conceded their first goals of the season and were 2-1 down at half-time,
but Aliya Gomes levelled the game in the 50th minute with her second goal of the day.
Woodbridge Strikers put distance between themselves and the teams below hunting a playoff spot. Their 4-2 win against
FC London leaves them in fifth, six points clear of sixth-placed North Mississauga. Jessica Lisi stole the show with
a hat-trick.
There were 3-0 victories for Simcoe County Rovers and Unionville Milliken on Sunday to end the Women’s Premier Division
action. Simcoe beat Burlington to keep their playoff hopes alive while Unionville Milliken got the better of Hamilton United.
Vaughan Azzurri’s delight continued in the Men’s Premier Division as the champions blew away BVB IA Waterloo with an 8-0
victory. The Azzurri had lost last weekend for the first time since the 2021 L1O playoffs and clearly had a point to prove;
Christopher Campoli and Abdou Raouf Mohamed both came away with a brace.
There were points dropped by Sigma on Sunday as they were beaten 2-1 by Woodbridge Strikers. Given the league position
of both teams, this was a surprise defeat for Sigma who remain in third but three points adrift of the top two,
while Woodbridge sit 12th.
The final game of the weekend saw Hamilton United pick up three crucial points on the Road to 2024 with a 1-0 win over
Master’s FA.
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