2023 League1 Ontario season

The 2023 Men's League1 Ontario season was the ninth of League1 Ontario, a Division 3 men's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the highest level of soccer based in the Canadian province of Ontario. Following the 2023 season, the league will split into three divisions with promotion and relegation between them.[1]

League1 Ontario
Men's Division
Season2023
DatesApril 12 – August 20
(regular season)
August 23 – September 2
(playoffs)
ChampionsSimcoe County Rovers (1st title)
Supporters TrophyScrosoppi FC (1st title)
Matches played215
Top goalscorerTomasz Skublak (23 goals)
2022
2024

Simcoe County Rovers FC were the league champions, having defeated Scrosoppi FC in the final to capture their first title.

Clubs

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With the exception of Pickering FC, 21 of the 22 clubs that took part in the 2022 season participated in 2023.[2] Because of the format changes planned for the following year, the league imposed a one-year moratorium on any new teams joining the league.[1][3]

Team City Principal stadium Head coach
Alliance United FC Toronto/Markham Varsity Stadium / Birchmount Stadium Ilya Orlov
Blue Devils FC Oakville Sheridan College Trafalgar Duncan Wilde
Burlington SC Burlington Corpus Christi CSS Darren Tilley
BVB IA Waterloo Waterloo RIM Park John O'Brien
Darby FC Whitby Whitby Soccer Centre Hermann Kingue
Electric City FC Peterborough Fleming College Sports Complex Randy Ribeiro
Guelph United F.C. Guelph Alumni Stadium/Centennial Bowl Justin Springer
Hamilton United Hamilton Ron Joyce Stadium, McMaster University Kamran Derayeh
FC London London Tricar Field Yiannis Tsalatsidis
Master's Futbol Scarborough (Toronto) L'Amoreaux Park Giuseppe Mattace-Raso
North Mississauga SC Mississauga Churchill Meadows (Mattamy Sports Park) Amir Riazi
North Toronto Nitros Toronto Downsview Park Marko Milanović
ProStars FC Brampton Victoria Park Stadium Sam Medeiros
Scrosoppi FC Milton Ontario Soccer Centre John Yacou
Sigma FC Mississauga Paramount Fine Foods Centre / Tim Hortons Field John Zervos
Simcoe County Rovers FC Barrie J.C Massie Field, Georgian College Jason Beckford
St. Catharines Roma Wolves St. Catharines Roma Park – Under Armour Field Federico Turriziani
Unionville Milliken SC Unionville (Markham) Ontario Soccer Centre Filipe Bento
Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan North Maple Regional Park Carmine Isacco / Sergio De Luca
Windsor City FC Amherstburg St. Clair College Valtar Cosenza
Woodbridge Strikers Woodbridge (Vaughan) Vaughan Grove Peter Pinizzotto

Premier Division

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On March 7, 2023, League1 Ontario announced that the Men's Premier Division season would begin on April 13 (later revised to April 12).[4][5] Each team will play 20 matches this season, one match against each opponent.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Scrosoppi FC 20 17 0 3 52 18 +34 51 Playoff semifinals
2 Simcoe County Rovers FC (C) 20 15 1 4 56 25 +31 46
3 Vaughan Azzurri 20 14 3 3 52 20 +32 45 Playoff quarterfinals
4 Blue Devils FC 20 12 3 5 44 25 +19 39
5 Burlington SC 20 12 3 5 43 29 +14 39
6 Guelph United F.C. 20 11 6 3 43 22 +21 39
7 Electric City FC 20 11 4 5 50 19 +31 37
8 Alliance United FC 20 9 6 5 51 23 +28 33
9 Sigma FC 20 9 5 6 50 39 +11 32
10 North Toronto Nitros 20 9 4 7 46 33 +13 31
11 Hamilton United 20 7 5 8 34 33 +1 26
12 Woodbridge Strikers 20 6 8 6 28 31 −3 26
13 FC London 20 6 7 7 31 37 −6 25
14 Darby FC 20 6 5 9 34 30 +4 23
15 Windsor City FC 20 6 2 12 34 45 −11 20
16 St. Catharines Roma Wolves 20 6 2 12 27 48 −21 20
17 North Mississauga SC 20 5 5 10 28 37 −9 20
18 ProStars FC 20 5 4 11 30 51 −21 19
19 Master's FA 20 4 2 14 20 44 −24 14
20 Unionville Milliken SC 20 1 1 18 16 78 −62 4[a]
21 BVB IA Waterloo 20 1 0 19 13 95 −82 3
Source: League1 Ontario
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) total wins; 3) goal differential; 4) goals for; 5) away goals differential; 6) away goals for; 7) home goals differential; 8) home goals for; 9) head-to-head record; 10) coin toss or drawing of lots.[6]
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ Unionville Milliken's 2-0 victory over Windsor City was changed to a 3-0 loss, due to the fielding of an ineligible player

Playoffs

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The top two seeds will earn a bye directly to the second round. After the first round, the teams will be re-seeded with the top seed playing the lowest ranked remaining seed.


Quarter-finals
August 23
Semi-finals
August 26–27
Final
September 2
1 Scrosoppi FC 2
4 Blue Devils FC 4 4 Blue Devils FC 1
5 Burlington SC 1 1 Scrosoppi FC 2
2 Simcoe County Rovers FC 4
2 Simcoe County Rovers FC 3
3 Vaughan Azzurri 2 3 Vaughan Azzurri 0
6 Guelph United FC 0

Quarter-finals

August 23, 2023 Blue Devils FC 4–1 Burlington SC Oakville, Ontario
8:00 PM Czerkawski   14', 19', 59'
Hamade   40'
Report Singh-Sharpe   61' Stadium: Pine Glen Park
Referee: John-Morgan Pizzuti
August 23, 2023 Vaughan Azzurri 2–0 Guelph United FC Vaughan, Ontario
8:00 PM Olatoye   2'
Robinson   45'
Report Stadium: North Maple Regional Park

Semi-finals

August 27, 2023 Simcoe County Rovers FC 3–0 Vaughan Azzurri Barrie, Ontario
6:30 PM Layne   21'
Reid   50'
Benítez   63'
Stadium: J.C Massie Field (Georgian College)

Final

September 2, 2023 Scrosoppi FC 2–4 Simcoe County Rovers FC Vaughan, Ontario
7:00 PM Cotterell   44'
Skublak   83'
Report Lawson   5'
Karagianakos   9'
Layne   67' (pen), 87'
Stadium: Ontario Soccer Centre
Attendance: 1150
Referee: Scott Bowman

Statistics

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League Honours

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Awards

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Award Player Team Ref
Most Valuable Player Tomasz Skublak Scrosoppi FC [7]
Young Player of the Year (U20) Marcus Caldeira Sigma FC
Coach of the Year Jason Beckford Simcoe County Rovers FC
Goalkeeper of the Year Baj Maan Simcoe County Rovers FC
Defender of the Year Gianfranco Facchineri Windsor City FC
Midfielder of the Year Orlendis Benítez Hernández Simcoe County Rovers FC
Forward of the Year Tomasz Skublak Scrosoppi FC
Golden Boot (Top Scorer) Tomasz Skublak Scrosoppi FC

League All-Stars

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The following players were named League1 Ontario Premier Division All-Stars for the 2023 season:[8]

Future format and changes

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Starting in 2024, the league will split into a multi-division format with promotion and relegation between them. Twelve teams will take part in the first-tier League1 Premier, ten teams in the second-tier League1 Championship, and all new expansion teams as well as reserve sides in a third-tier League2 Ontario.

The initial assignment of teams in the 2024 season is done by using the points obtained in the previous two years. The points from the 2022 season (weighted at 75%) will be added to the points teams obtain in the 2023 season (weighted at 100%) to determine the placements.[1]

Pos Team GP 2022 2023 Total Qualification
1 Vaughan Azzurri 41 42.75 45 87.75 Qualification to
2024 League1 Premier
2 Simcoe County Rovers FC 41 33 46 79
3 Blue Devils FC 41 35.25 39 74.25
4 Scrosoppi FC 41 21 51 72
5 Guelph United F.C. 41 31.5 39 70.5
6 Alliance United FC 41 33.75 33 66.75
7 North Toronto Nitros 41 33 31 64
8 Electric City FC 41 22.5 37 59.5 Folded after season
9 Sigma FC 41 23.25 32 55.25 Qualification to
2024 League1 Premier
10 Burlington SC 41 14.25 39 53.25
11 ProStars FC 41 32.25 19 51.25
12 Hamilton United 41 23.25 26 49.25
13 Woodbridge Strikers[a] 41 21.75 26 47.75 Qualification to
2024 League1 Premier
14 Darby FC 41 18.75 23 41.75 Qualification to
2024 League1 Championship
15 St. Catharines Roma Wolves 41 15 20 35
16 Windsor City FC 41 13.5 20 33.5
17 FC London 41 7.5 25 32.5
18 North Mississauga SC 41 10.5 20 30.5
19 Master's FA 41 12.75 14 26.75
20 BVB IA Waterloo 41 16.5 3 19.5
21 Unionville Milliken SC 41 10.5 4 14.5
22 Pickering FC[b] (Z) 21 17.25 17.25 Ineligible for League1 Championship
Source: [citation needed]
(Z) L1O license for 2024 revoked
Notes:
  1. ^ Woodbridge initially qualified for the League1 Championship. However, they were later promoted to the Premier Division to replace Electric City, upon their folding
  2. ^ Pickering FC did not compete in the 2023 season. Their L1O license for 2024 was revoked.

U21 Reserve Division

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The Reserve Division will return with each Premier Division club fielding one or more teams, as well as some other OPDL clubs that do not operate a League1 Ontario team.

North East Division

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Electric City FC U21 14 10 3 1 41 13 +28 33 Advance to playoffs
2 Pickering FC U21 14 9 3 2 36 18 +18 30
3 Alliance United FC U21 14 8 1 5 38 28 +10 25
4 Master's FA U21 North East 14 7 1 6 34 24 +10 22
5 Unionville Milliken SC U21 14 7 0 7 30 31 −1 21
6 Darby FC U21 14 6 0 8 27 32 −5 18
7 Aurora FC U21 14 3 1 10 25 43 −18 10
8 Simcoe County Rovers FC U21 Northeast 14 1 1 12 17 59 −42 4

North West Division

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 ProStars FC U21 14 9 3 2 46 23 +23 30 Advance to playoffs
2 Blue Devils FC U21 14 9 3 2 36 23 +13 30
3 Scrosoppi FC U21 14 8 1 5 34 21 +13 25
4 North Mississauga SC U21 14 7 1 6 30 35 −5 22
5 Rush Canada U21 14 5 5 4 28 24 +4 20
6 Hamilton United U21 13 4 4 5 17 22 −5 16
7 Burlington SC U21 14 1 3 10 18 35 −17 6
8 Oakville SC U21 13 1 2 10 18 44 −26 5
Updated to match(es) played on July 25, 2023. Source: League1 Ontario

Central Division

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Woodbridge Strikers U21 14 11 2 1 38 19 +19 35 Advance to playoffs
2 North Toronto Nitros U21 14 11 1 2 45 15 +30 34
3 Sigma FC U21 14 10 1 3 41 11 +30 31
4 Simcoe County Rovers FC U21 Central 14 6 3 5 27 28 −1 21
5 Vaughan Azzurri U21 13 4 4 5 24 26 −2 16
6 Toronto Skillz FC U21 14 2 3 9 10 36 −26 9
7 Toronto High Park FC U21 14 1 3 10 20 44 −24 6
8 Master's FA U21 Central 13 0 3 10 16 42 −26 3
Updated to match(es) played on July 25, 2023. Source: League1 Ontario

South West Division

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Guelph United F.C. U21 (C) 14 9 3 2 30 13 +17 30 Advance to playoffs
2 Cambridge United U21 14 8 4 2 29 12 +17 28
3 Whitecaps London U21 14 8 2 4 31 16 +15 26
4 FC London U21 14 8 0 6 34 21 +13 24
5 Tecumseh SC U21 14 7 2 5 33 22 +11 23
6 Windsor City FC U21 14 3 5 6 19 36 −17 14
7 St. Catharines Roma Wolves U21 14 1 3 10 14 46 −32 6
8 BVB IA Waterloo U21 14 2 1 11 12 36 −24 7
Source: League1 Ontario
(C) Champions

Playoffs

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Semifinals
July 26–27
Championship Game
August 4
      
NE1 Electric City FC U21 0
C1 Woodbridge Strikers U21 3
C1 Woodbridge Strikers U21 0
SW1 Guelph United FC U21 1
SW1 Guelph United FC U21 2(7)
NW1 ProStars FC U21 2(6)

U19 Reserve Division

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Summer Division

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Each team will play every team in their division once, as well as two games against teams from the opposite division.

East Division

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Sigma FC U19 12 10 1 1 52 11 +41 31 Advance to playoffs
2 Woodbridge Strikers U19 12 10 1 1 32 13 +19 31
3 Alliance United FC U19 12 7 2 3 26 21 +5 23
4 North Toronto Nitros U19 12 6 4 2 36 20 +16 22
5 Simcoe County Rovers FC U19 12 6 2 4 40 30 +10 20
6 Vaughan Azzurri U19 12 5 3 4 36 20 +16 18
7 Master's FA U19 12 5 3 4 29 21 +8 18
8 Unionville Milliken SC U19 12 4 0 8 27 55 −28 12
9 Pickering FC U19 12 2 2 8 15 49 −34 8
10 Richmond Hill SC U19 12 1 1 10 14 41 −27 4
11 Darby FC U19 12 1 1 10 15 46 −31 4

West Division

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 North Mississauga SC U19 12 11 0 1 68 15 +53 33 Advance to playoffs
2 Rush Canada U19 (C) 12 9 1 2 50 12 +38 28
3 Burlington SC U19 12 6 2 4 25 21 +4 20
4 ProStars FC U19 12 6 2 4 20 20 0 20
5 Hamilton United U19 12 6 0 6 14 24 −10 18
6 Scrosoppi FC U19 12 5 2 5 24 18 +6 17
7 Cambridge United U19 12 4 3 5 18 23 −5 15
8 Guelph United F.C. U19 12 4 2 6 25 17 +8 14
9 Blue Devils FC U19 12 4 2 6 20 34 −14 14
10 Brampton SC U19 12 1 1 10 8 54 −46 4
11 St. Catharines Roma Wolves U19 12 0 3 9 13 42 −29 3
Source: League1 Ontario
(C) Champions

Playoffs

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Semi-Finals
July 31 - August 1
Championship Game
August 6
      
W1 North Mississauga SC U19 5
E2 Woodbridge Strikers U19 0
W1 North Mississauga SC U19 1(2)
W2 Rush Canada U19 1(3)
E1 Sigma FC U19 2
W2 Rush Canada U19 3

Fall Division

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East Division

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Toronto FC Academy U19 (C) 12 12 0 0 70 9 +61 36 Advance to playoffs
2 Sigma FC U19 12 10 1 1 42 20 +22 31
3 Vaughan Azzurri U19 12 9 1 2 43 20 +23 28
4 Woodbridge Strikers U19 12 7 1 4 29 24 +5 22
5 Master's FA U19 12 6 1 5 31 28 +3 19
6 North Toronto Nitros U19 12 5 3 4 23 17 +6 18
7 Unionville Milliken SC U19 12 4 2 6 26 36 −10 14
8 Pickering FC U19 12 2 1 9 15 42 −27 7
9 Alliance United FC U19 12 2 0 10 14 40 −26 6
10 Richmond Hill SC U19 12 1 2 9 17 40 −23 5
Source: League1 Ontario
(C) Champions

West Division

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Rush Canada U19 12 11 0 1 52 18 +34 33 Advance to playoffs
2 Scrosoppi FC U19 12 8 0 4 31 27 +4 24
3 North Mississauga SC U19 12 6 2 4 40 29 +11 20
4 Blue Devils FC U19 12 5 3 4 27 24 +3 18
5 Burlington SC U19 12 5 2 5 21 23 −2 17
6 Simcoe County Rovers FC U19 12 4 3 5 29 24 +5 15
7 ProStars FC U19 12 5 0 7 32 34 −2 15
8 Guelph United F.C. U19 12 3 1 8 25 30 −5 10
9 Hamilton United U19 12 2 1 9 9 32 −23 7
10 Brampton SC U19 12 0 2 10 3 62 −59 2

Playoffs

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Semi-Finals
November 13-14
Championship Game
November 18
      
E1 Toronto FC Academy U19 3
W2 Scrosoppi FC U19 0
E1 Toronto FC Academy U19 2
E2 Sigma FC U19 0
W1 Rush Canada U19 3
E2 Sigma FC U19 5

References

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  1. ^ a b c Jacques, John (January 25, 2022). "Promotion And Relegation Comes To League1 Ontario". Northern Tribune.
  2. ^ https://twitter.com/PickeringFC/status/1632945757534781440
  3. ^ "L1O opens 2024 expansion application process". January 17, 2023.
  4. ^ "Men's Premier Division returns on April 13". League1 Ontario. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  5. ^ @L1OMens (2023-03-15). "The 2023 Men's Premier Division season opener between @vaughansoccercl and @NT_SoccerClub will now take place on Wednesday, April 12" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-03-18 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ "League Operations and Game Day Manual Version 12.1" (PDF). League1 Ontario. January 25, 2022. p. 56. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Men's Premier Division 2023: Award Winners". League1 Ontario. November 20, 2023.
  8. ^ "MVP Tomasz Skublak leads line in star-studded XI". League1 Ontario. November 28, 2023.
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