# 2018 League1 Ontario season

The 2018 Men's League1 Ontario season was the fifth 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 won the league championship and earned entry into the 2019 Canadian Championship; the top national tournament for men's soccer teams. Vaughan captured the league double for a second time by also winning the L1 Cup, a feat they first achieved in 2016. FC London finished the season with the best regular season record, earning 38 points in 16 games.

## Changes from 2017

The men's division grew slightly to 17 teams for this season, with the addition of Darby FC, Unionville Milliken SC, and Alliance United FC (a joint partnership between Markham SC and Wexford SC). Durham United FA and North Toronto Nitros did not return for this season.
During the off-season, Jim Brennan stepped down as head of Aurora FC to accept a position with York 9 FC in the Canadian Premier League. FC London also announced the affiliation of its youth academy with professional side Toronto FC.
This season saw expanded playoffs and a return to single-table competition for the men's division. The top eight teams overall from the men's division entered the playoffs, which consisted of a group stage and a final championship match between the winner of each group. The women's side saw a shorter season which ended in August, followed by a four-team elimination playoff for the league title.

## Teams

League1 Ontario Men's Division :
| Team | City | Principal stadium | Founded | First season | Head coach |
| Alliance United | Markham | Centennial College | 2018 | 2018 | Ilya Orlov |
| Aurora FC | Aurora | Stewart Burnett Park | 1964 | 2016 | Derek O'Keefe |
| Darby FC | Whitby | Whitby Soccer Centre | 2018 | 2018 | David Thorburn |
| FC London | London | German Canadian FC Stadium | 2008 | 2016 | Michael Marcoccia |
| Master's Futbol | Toronto (Scarborough) | L'Amoreaux Park | 2012 | 2014 | Rick Titus |
| North Mississauga SC | Mississauga | Hershey Centre | 1982 | 2016 | Sam Medeiros |
| Oakville Blue Devils | Oakville | Sheridan Trafalgar Stadium | 1994 | 2015 | Duncan Wilde |
| Ottawa South United Force | Ottawa | Quinn's Pointe | 2017 | 2017 | Peter Mapendere |
| ProStars FC | Brampton | Victoria Park Stadium | 2015 | 2015 | Josef Komlodi |
| Sanjaxx Lions | Toronto | Monarch Park Stadium | 2012 | 2015 | Patrick Lowe |
| Sigma FC | Mississauga | Hershey Centre | 2005 | 2014 | Bobby Smyrniotis |
| Toronto FC III | Toronto (North York) | KIA Training Ground | 2008 | 2014 | Danny Dichio |
| Toronto Skillz FC | Toronto (Scarborough) | Birchmount Stadium | 2008 | 2016 | Leslie Fitzpatrick |
| Unionville Milliken SC | Unionville | Bill Crothers Park | 2018 | 2018 | Emanuele Ameltonis |
| Vaughan Azzurri | Vaughan (Maple) | McNaughton Park | 2014 | 2014 | Carmine Isacco |
| Windsor TFC Stars | Windsor | University of Windsor Stadium | 2004 | 2014 | Zibby Piatkiewicz |
| Woodbridge Strikers | Vaughan (Woodbridge) | Vaughan Grove | 1976 | 2014 | Peter Pinizzotto |
* ↑ Unless otherwise noted, this information was obtained from team directories on the league website
* ↑ Some matches were played at Bronte Athletic Park
* ↑ Ottawa South United Force played one home match against Windsor TFC Stars at the Ontario Soccer Centre
* ↑ Some matches were played at Terry Fox Park

## Regular season

Each team played 16 matches as part of the season; one match against all other teams. The top eight teams competed in the league playoffs at the end of the season, the winner of which earned entry into the 2019 Canadian Championship.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | FC London | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 49 | 19 | +30 | 38 | Playoffs |
| 2 | Sigma FC | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 9 | +24 | 37 | Playoffs |
| 3 | Oakville Blue Devils | 16 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 41 | 9 | +32 | 35 | Playoffs |
| 4 | Toronto FC III | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 48 | 25 | +23 | 33 | No playoffs |
| 5 | Vaughan Azzurri (C, X) | 16 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 45 | 23 | +22 | 31 | Playoffs |
| 6 | Woodbridge Strikers | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 43 | 18 | +25 | 28 | Playoffs |
| 7 | Alliance United FC | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 34 | 24 | +10 | 24 | Playoffs |
| 8 | Unionville Milliken SC | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 25 | 21 | +4 | 23 | Playoffs |
| 9 | Darby FC | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 22 | 27 | −5 | 21 | Playoffs |
| 10 | Master's Futbol | 16 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 19 | |
| 11 | Sanjaxx Lions | 16 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 26 | −12 | 18 | |
| 12 | Toronto Skillz FC | 16 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 25 | 50 | −25 | 14 | |
| 13 | North Mississauga SC | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 15 | 30 | −15 | 13 | |
| 14 | Ottawa South United | 16 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 19 | 50 | −31 | 13 | |
| 15 | Aurora FC | 16 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 40 | −20 | 12 | |
| 16 | ProStars FC | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 34 | −20 | 10 | |
| 17 | Windsor TFC | 16 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 13 | 55 | −42 | 8 | |
* ↑ Toronto FC III voluntarily withdrew from league playoffs.

## Playoffs

The top eight teams from the regular season were divided into two groups of four for the playoffs. Each team played three matches; one match against all other teams in their group. The top team from each group advanced to the league championship, the winner of which earned entry into the 2019 Canadian Championship.

### Group stage
#### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | VGN | DBY | ALU | LON |
| 1 | Vaughan Azzurri (O) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 9 | League Championship | — | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| 2 | Darby FC | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 4 | | | — | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| 3 | Alliance United FC | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 3 | | | | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | FC London | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 1 | | | | | — |

#### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | WDB | SIG | OAK | UNV |
| 1 | Woodbridge Strikers | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 7 | League Championship | — | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Sigma FC | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 | | | — | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| 3 | Oakville Blue Devils | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 4 | | | | — | 2–0 |
| 4 | Unionville Milliken SC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | −6 | 0 | | | | | — |

### League Championship

The league champion was determined by a single match between the two group winners in the first round of the playoffs. The winner qualified for the 2019 Canadian Championship.

## L1 Cup

The L1 Cup tournament is a separate contest from the rest of the season, in which all 17 teams from the men's division took part. It is not a form of playoffs at the end of the season (as is typically seen in North American sports), but is more like the EFL Cup, albeit only for League1 Ontario teams. All matches are separate from the regular season, and are not reflected in the season standings.
The cup tournament for the men's division is a single-match knockout tournament with a total of four rounds culminating in a final match in the start of August, with initial matches determined by random draw. Each match in the tournament must return a result; any match drawn after 90 minutes advanced directly to kicks from the penalty mark instead of extra time.
| Preliminary round | Preliminary round |
| Alliance United | 2 (4) |
| Darby FC | 2 (5) |
| First round | First round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final |
| FC London | 2 | | | | |
| Darby FC | 0 | | | | |
| Darby FC | 0 | FC London | 0 | | |
| | | Sigma FC | 8 | | |
| Sigma FC | 4 | Sigma FC | 8 | | |
| Sanjaxx Lions | 0 | | | | |
| Sanjaxx Lions | 0 | | | Sigma FC | 1 (5) |
| | | | | Toronto FC III | 1 (6) |
| ProStars FC | 2 (4) | | | Toronto FC III | 1 (6) |
| Aurora FC | 2 (3) | | | | |
| Aurora FC | 2 (3) | ProStars FC | 0 | | |
| | | Toronto FC III | 3 | | |
| Windsor TFC Stars | 1 | Toronto FC III | 3 | | |
| Toronto FC III | 4 | | | | | | |
| Toronto FC III | 4 | | | | | Toronto FC III | 1 |
| | | | | | | Vaughan Azzurri | 2 |
| Master's Futbol | 4 | | | | | Vaughan Azzurri | 2 |
| Unionville Milliken SC | 0 | | | | | | |
| Unionville Milliken SC | 0 | Master's Futbol | 2 | | | | |
| | | Oakville Blue Devils | 3 | | | | |
| Oakville Blue Devils | 3 | Oakville Blue Devils | 3 | | | | |
| Toronto Skillz | 1 | | | | | | |
| Toronto Skillz | 1 | | | Oakville Blue Devils | 0 | | |
| | | | | Vaughan Azzurri | 2 |
| North Mississauga SC | 0 | | | Vaughan Azzurri | 2 |
| Vaughan Azzurri | 6 | | | | |
| Vaughan Azzurri | 6 | Vaughan Azzurri | 2 | | |
| | | Woodbridge Strikers | 0 | | |
| Woodbridge Strikers | 4 | Woodbridge Strikers | 0 | | |
| Ottawa South United | 1 | | | | |

### Final
## Statistics
## Awards

The following players received honours in the 2018 season:
| Award | Player (Club) |
| Most Valuable Player | Dylan Sacramento (Vaughan Azzurri) |
| Golden Boot | Anthony Novak (Oakville Blue Devils) |
| Coach of the Year | Mike Marcoccia (FC London) |
| Young Players of the Year | Marko Maletic (FC London) Kunle Dada-Luke (Toronto FC III) |
| Defender of the Year | Dominic Samuel (Sigma FC) |
| Goalkeeper of the Year | Robert Stillo (Woodbridge Strikers) |
| Fair Play Award | Matthew Arnone (Vaughan Azzurri) |
| Goal of the Year | Jack Sears (Darby FC) |

### First Team All-Stars

| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Robert Stillo (Woodbridge Strikers) | Jarred Phillips (Vaughan Azzurri) Marko Maletic (FC London) Dominic Samuel (Sigma FC) Afram Gorgees (Toronto FC III) | Mohammed Reza Nafa (FC London) Giuliano Frano (Sigma FC) Dylan Sacramento (Vaughan Azzurri) | Kadell Thomas (Sigma FC) Anthony Novak (Oakville Blue Devils) Austin Ricci (Vaughan Azzurri) |

### Second Team All-Stars

| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Triston Henry (Sigma FC) | Justin Springer (Vaughan Azzurri) Konnor McNamara (Oakville Blue Devils) Parker Seymour (FC London) Morey Doner (Aurora FC) | Matthew Arnone (Vaughan Azzurri) Mehdi Essoussi (Toronto FC III) Stefan Nikolic (Sanjaxx Lions) | Connor Wilson (FC London) Kunle Dada-Luke (Toronto FC III) Emmanuel Issac (Woodbridge Strikers) |

### Third Team All-Stars

| Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| Lukas Birsingl (Oakville/Unionville) | Tim Mahabir (Toronto Skillz) Reggie Laryea (Sigma FC) Bruce Cullen (Woodbridge Strikers) Aaron Schneebli (FC London) Michael Borowski (ProStars FC) Brendan Woodfull (Windsor TFC) | Raphael Reynolds (Darby FC) Lee Victor Massunda (North Mississauga) Barou Junior Mbuyamba (Ottawa South United) Mansoor Alfazy (Sigma FC) Joshua Paredes-Proctor (Woodbridge Strikers) Josh Moreira (Toronto FC III) | Steven Furlano (Alliance United/Darby) Jose De Sousa (Woodbridge/Masters FA) Tre Crosby (Unionville Milliken) Filipe Vilela (Oakville Blue Devils) Marcel Zajac (Sigma FC) |

## All-Star Game

The league announced that an All-Star Game between League1 Ontario and the Première Ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) would once again take place this season. The game was hosted by the PLSQ and was played on June 30.
League1 Ontario All-Stars :
| Pos. | Name | Team |
| Starters |||
| GK | Triston Henry | Sigma FC |
| D | Bruce Cullen | Woodbridge Strikers |
| D | Dominic Samuel | Sigma FC |
| D | Marko Maletic | FC London |
| D | Morey Doner | Aurora FC |
| MF | Joshua Parades-Procter | Woodbridge Strikers |
| MF | Matthew Arnone | Vaughan Azzurri |
| MF | Joey Melo | Masters FA |
| MF | Kadell Thomas | Sigma FC |
| F | Jarek Whiteman | Vaughan Azzurri |
| F | Anthony Novak | Oakville Blue Devils |
| Substitutes |||
| GK | Robert Stillo | Woodbridge Strikers |
| D | Lukas MacNaughton | Alliance United |
| D | Devon Bowyer | Alliance United |
| D | Ignazio Muccilli | Woodbridge Strikers |
| MF | Nikola Stakic | Alliance United |
| MF | Raphael Reynolds | Darby FC |
| MF | Stefan Nikolic | Sanjaxx Lions |
| F | Tre Crosby | Unionville Milliken |
| F | Andrew Gordon | Sanjaxx Lions |
| F | Jose De Sousa | Sanjaxx Lions |