# 2022 League1 Ontario season

The 2022 Men's League1 Ontario season was the eighth season of play for 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.
Vaughan Azzurri defeated Blue Devils FC in the final to win the league championship and qualified for the 2023 Canadian Championship. Guelph United F.C. represented the league in the 2022 Canadian Championship, as they were the 2021 league champions.

## Format and changes

The league returned to a single table format for the 2022 season with each team playing 21 games, following the 2021 season which was shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The regular season ran for 18 weeks between April 21 and August 21 (one postponed match was later played on August 27). The top six teams qualified for the playoffs with the top two getting first round byes. The quarterfinals were held on August 24–25, the semifinals on August 27–28, and the championship final on September 3, which is Labour Day weekend.
With the league set to split into a multi-division format with promotion and relegation beginning in 2024, the points obtained in this season contribute to the assignment of clubs in 2024. 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.

## Clubs

The men's division grew to 22 teams through expansion. Burlington SC, Electric City FC and Simcoe County Rovers joined the league as expansion teams, Pickering FC returned from hiatus and played their first season under their new name, having re-branded after the 2019 season, while Toronto Skillz FC has left the league. Hamilton United, St. Catharines Roma Wolves, and BVB IA Waterloo (formerly Waterloo United) made their official Premier Division debuts, after having opted out of the main division last season, having fielded teams in either the short-season Summer Championship or Reserve divisions instead. 1812 FC Barrie departed the league after playing in the Premier Division last year, as well as Toronto Skillz FC who played in the 2021 L1O Summer Championship and Aurora FC who were on hiatus and joined the Simcoe County Rovers group, also officially departed.
The following clubs participated in the league.
| Team | City | Principal stadium | Head coach |
| Alliance United FC | Toronto | Centennial College/Varsity Stadium | Ilya Orlov |
| Blue Devils FC | Oakville | Sheridan College Trafalgar | Duncan Wilde |
| Burlington SC | Burlington | Haber Centre | Mark Worton |
| BVB IA Waterloo | Waterloo | Warrior Field, University of Waterloo | Jordan Brown |
| Darby FC | Whitby | Whitby Soccer Centre | Jens Kraemer |
| Electric City FC | Peterborough | Fleming College Sports Complex | Randy Ribeiro (interim) |
| Guelph United F.C. | Guelph | Alumni Stadium | Keith Mason & Justin Springer |
| Hamilton United | Hamilton | Ron Joyce Stadium | Kamran Derayeh |
| FC London | London | Portuguese Club of London | Ruben Quintão |
| Master's Futbol | Scarborough (Toronto) | L'Amoreaux Park | Junior Groves |
| North Mississauga SC | Mississauga | Churchill Meadows | Peyvand Mossavat & Raman Mohammadi |
| North Toronto Nitros | Toronto | Downsview Park | Marko Milanović |
| Pickering FC | Pickering | Pickering Soccer Centre/Kinsmen Park | Aleks Balda |
| ProStars FC | Brampton | Victoria Park Stadium | John Yacou |
| Scrosoppi FC | Milton | Bishop Reding | Shayne Griffin |
| Sigma FC | Mississauga | Paramount Fine Foods Centre | 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) | Bill Crothers | Filipe Bento |
| Vaughan Azzurri | Vaughan | North Maple Regional Park | Patrice Gheisar |
| Windsor TFC | Amherstburg | Libro Centre | Valtar Cosenza |
| Woodbridge Strikers | Woodbridge (Vaughan) | Vaughan Grove | Peter Pinizzotto |

### In-season coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Ref |
| Electric City FC | Jamie Sherwood | Mutual termination | May 20, 2022 | Randy Ribeiro (interim) | |
| Master's FA | Rick Titus | Resigned | June 1, 2022 | Junior Groves | |

## Premier Division

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vaughan Azzurri (C) | 21 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 76 | 25 | +51 | 57 | Playoff semifinals |
| 2 | Blue Devils FC | 21 | 14 | 5 | 2 | 54 | 16 | +38 | 47 | Playoff semifinals |
| 3 | Alliance United FC | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 43 | 15 | +28 | 45 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 4 | North Toronto Nitros | 21 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 37 | 19 | +18 | 44 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 5 | Simcoe County Rovers FC | 21 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 37 | 23 | +14 | 44 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 6 | ProStars FC | 21 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 58 | 37 | +21 | 43 | Playoff quarterfinals |
| 7 | Guelph United F.C. | 21 | 13 | 3 | 5 | 42 | 25 | +17 | 42 | |
| 8 | Hamilton United | 21 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 50 | 45 | +5 | 31 | |
| 9 | Sigma FC | 21 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 36 | 27 | +9 | 31 | |
| 10 | Electric City FC | 21 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 23 | +6 | 30 | |
| 11 | Woodbridge Strikers | 21 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 29 | |
| 12 | Scrosoppi FC | 21 | 9 | 1 | 11 | 42 | 41 | +1 | 28 | |
| 13 | Darby FC | 21 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 23 | 29 | −6 | 25 | |
| 14 | Pickering FC | 21 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 30 | 40 | −10 | 23 | |
| 15 | BVB IA Waterloo | 21 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 43 | 59 | −16 | 22 | |
| 16 | St. Catharines Roma Wolves | 21 | 5 | 5 | 11 | 21 | 36 | −15 | 20 | |
| 17 | Burlington SC | 21 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 36 | 53 | −17 | 19 | |
| 18 | Windsor TFC | 21 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 21 | 40 | −19 | 18 | |
| 19 | Master's FA | 21 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 33 | 59 | −26 | 17 | |
| 20 | Unionville Milliken SC | 21 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 25 | 64 | −39 | 14 | |
| 21 | North Mississauga SC | 21 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 25 | 66 | −41 | 14 | |
| 22 | FC London | 21 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 27 | 52 | −25 | 10 | |

### Playoffs

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| | | | 1 | Vaughan Azzurri | 2 | | | |
| 4 | North Toronto Nitros | 0 | 5 | Simcoe County Rovers FC | 1 | | | |
| 5 | Simcoe County Rovers FC | 2 | | | | 1 | Vaughan Azzurri | 5 |
| | | | | | | 2 | Blue Devils FC | 1 |
| | | | 2 | Blue Devils FC | 3 | | | |
| 3 | Alliance United FC | 4 | 3 | Alliance United FC | 2 | | | |
| 6 | ProStars FC | 0 | | | | | | |
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final

### League honours
#### Awards

| Award | Player | Team |
| Most Valuable Player | Massimo Ferrin | Vaughan Azzurri |
| Young Player of the Year (U20) | Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy | ProStars FC |
| Coach of the Year | Patrice Gheisar | Vaughan Azzurri |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Praveen Ahilan | Alliance United |
| Defender of the Year | Amardo Oakley | Guelph United F.C. |
| Midfielder of the Year | Nikola Stakic | Alliance United |
| Forward of the Year | Miles Green | Hamilton United |
| Golden Boot | Massimo Ferrin | Vaughan Azzurri |

#### League All-Stars

The following players were named League1 Ontario Premier Division All-Stars for the 2022 season:
| Player | Position |
| Praveen Ahilan (Alliance United) | Goalkeeper |
| Amardo Oakley (Guelph United) | Defender |
| Kenny Lioutas (Alliance United) | Defender |
| Justyn Thomas (Vaughan Azzurri) | Defender |
| Nirun Sivananthan (Alliance United) | Defender |
| Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy (ProStars) | Midfielder |
| Nikola Stakic (Alliance United) | Midfielder |
| Andron Kagramanyan (Vaughan Azzurri) | Midfielder |
| Taha Ilyass (Blue Devils) | Forward |
| Miles Green (Hamilton United) | Forward |
| Massimo Ferrin (Vaughan Azzurri) | Forward |
| Player | Position |
| Ali Ghazanfari-Moghaddan (North Toronto) | Goalkeeper |
| Riley Ferrazzo (Vaughan Azzurri) | Defender |
| Oluwaseun Oyegunle (Sigma) | Defender |
| Matthew Chandler (Blue Devils) | Defender |
| Terrell Spencer (Masters FA) | Defender |
| Alexander Zis (ProStars/Guelph) | Midfielder |
| Liam Salmon (Pickering) | Midfielder |
| Brandon Duarte (Blue Devils) | Midfielder |
| Raheem Rose (Vaughan Azzurri) | Forward |
| Ethan Beckford (Simcoe County) | Forward |
| Farris Ammari (ProStars) | Forward |
| Player | Position |
| Quillan Roberts (Electric City) | Goalkeeper |
| Anthony Stolar (Scrosoppi) | Defender |
| Christian Westlaken (North Toronto) | Defender |
| Conrad Czarnecki (St. Catharines) | Defender |
| Zachary Ellis-Hayden (Electric City) | Defender |
| Jack Sears (Guelph United) | Midfielder |
| Tim Mahabir (Unionville Milliken) | Midfielder |
| Santiago Fonseca (London) | Midfielder |
| Wesley Cain (BVB Waterloo) | Forward |
| Augustus Oku (Burlington) | Forward |
| Abdou Raouf Mohamed (Woodbridge) | Forward |
The following players were named League1 Ontario Premier Division U20 All-Stars for the 2022 season:
U20 All-Star Team
| Player | Position |
| Christian Calabro (Vaughan Azzurri) | Goalkeeper |
| Anthony Stolar (Scrosoppi) | Defender |
| Oluwaseun Oyegunle (Sigma) | Defender |
| Nikolas Antolcic (BVB Waterloo) | Defender |
| Mateo Goldsztein-Herrera (London) | Midfielder |
| Juan Delgadillo (North Toronto) | Midfielder |
| Santino De Bartolo (Woodbridge) | Midfielder |
| Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy (ProStars) | Midfielder |
| Mohamed Alshakman (Sigma) | Midfielder |
| Ryley Wishart (Simcoe County) | Forward |
| Kai Garvey (Sigma) | Forward |

## U21 Reserve Division

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 Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Simcoe County Rovers FC U21 (C) | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 7 | +42 | 33 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | Aurora FC | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 38 | 22 | +16 | 25 | |
| 3 | Master's FA U21 North | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 22 | |
| 4 | Alliance United FC U21 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 24 | −2 | 19 | |
| 5 | Unionville Milliken SC U21 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 29 | 26 | +3 | 16 | |
| 6 | Richmond Hill SC | 12 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 26 | −12 | 13 | |
| 7 | Rush Canada Academy | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 19 | 40 | −21 | 8 | |
| 8 | Darby FC U21 North | 12 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 12 | 43 | −31 | 1 | |

### West Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Tecumseh SC | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 8 | +36 | 34 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | Guelph United F.C. U21 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 32 | 9 | +23 | 27 | |
| 3 | Cambridge United | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 16 | +9 | 23 | |
| 4 | Whitecaps London | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 13 | +7 | 23 | |
| 5 | FC London U21 | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 22 | 21 | +1 | 15 | |
| 6 | Windsor TFC U21 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 18 | 41 | −23 | 7 | |
| 7 | St. Catharines Roma Wolves U21 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 26 | −14 | 6 | |
| 8 | BVB IA Waterloo U21 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 50 | −39 | 2 | |

### Central Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Scrosoppi FC U21 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 9 | +26 | 32 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | Sigma FC U21 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 30 | 14 | +16 | 24 | |
| 3 | Blue Devils FC U21 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 23 | 20 | +3 | 17 | |
| 4 | Hamilton United U21 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 12 | +3 | 15 | |
| 5 | North Mississauga SC U21 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 20 | −3 | 14 | |
| 6 | ProStars FC U21 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 19 | −5 | 13 | |
| 7 | Oakville SC | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 35 | −20 | 12 | |
| 8 | Burlington SC U21 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 32 | −20 | 7 | |

### East Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | North Toronto Nitros U21 | 12 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 43 | 12 | +31 | 28 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | Vaughan Azzurri U21 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 38 | 16 | +22 | 26 | |
| 3 | Woodbridge Strikers U21 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 36 | 14 | +22 | 24 | |
| 4 | FC Durham | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 18 | 26 | −8 | 14 | |
| 5 | Master's FA U21 East | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 22 | −7 | 12 | |
| 6 | Toronto Skillz FC | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 22 | −9 | 12 | |
| 7 | Brampton SC | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 16 | 41 | −25 | 8 | |
| 8 | Darby FC U21 East | 12 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 38 | −26 | 7 | |

### Playoffs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Championship Game | Championship Game | Championship Game |
| N1 | Simcoe County Rovers U21 | 3 | | | |
| E1 | North Toronto Nitros U21 | 1 | | | |
| E1 | North Toronto Nitros U21 | 1 | N1 | Simcoe County Rovers U21 | 4 |
| | | | C1 | Scrosoppi FC U21 | 1 |
| W1 | Tecumseh SC | 1 | C1 | Scrosoppi FC U21 | 1 |
| C1 | Scrosoppi FC U21 | 2 | | | |

## U19 Reserve Division

The team in the U19 reserve division played each team in their own division twice, plus some teams from the opposing division once for a 20-game schedule.

### Central Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Vaughan Azzurri U19 (C) | 20 | 16 | 3 | 1 | 69 | 14 | +55 | 51 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | North Toronto Nitros U19 | 20 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 52 | 26 | +26 | 45 | Advance to playoffs |
| 3 | Woodbridge Strikers U19 | 20 | 12 | 1 | 7 | 50 | 29 | +21 | 37 | |
| 4 | Sigma FC U19 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 49 | 41 | +8 | 30 | |
| 5 | Alliance United FC U19 | 20 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 30 | 40 | −10 | 21 | |
| 6 | North Mississauga SC U19 | 20 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 37 | 64 | −27 | 16 | |
| 7 | Unionville Milliken SC U19 | 20 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 42 | 77 | −35 | 15 | |
| 8 | FC Durham U19 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 26 | 73 | −47 | 9 | |

### West Division

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Rush Canada Academy U19 | 20 | 14 | 2 | 4 | 54 | 26 | +28 | 44 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | ProStars FC U19 | 20 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 60 | 31 | +29 | 42 | Advance to playoffs |
| 3 | Hamilton United U19 | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 42 | 27 | +15 | 39 | |
| 4 | Guelph United F.C. U19 | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 48 | 39 | +9 | 27 | |
| 5 | Blue Devils FC U19 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 32 | 39 | −7 | 24 | |
| 6 | Simcoe County Rovers FC U19 | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 46 | 49 | −3 | 24 | |
| 7 | Scrosoppi FC U19 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 29 | 64 | −35 | 17 | |
| 8 | Tecumseh SC U19 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 28 | 55 | −27 | 15 | |

### Playoffs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Championship Game | Championship Game | Championship Game |
| C1 | Vaughan Azzurri U19 | 3 | | | |
| W2 | ProStars FC U19 | 1 | | | |
| W2 | ProStars FC U19 | 1 | C1 | Vaughan Azzurri U19 | 3 |
| | | | W1 | Rush Canada Academy U19 | 0 |
| W1 | Rush Canada Academy U19 | 4 | W1 | Rush Canada Academy U19 | 0 |
| C2 | North Toronto Nitros U19 | 2 | | | |