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Posted by
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October 24, 2017 |
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Aaron Nielsen
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@ENBSports
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In front of a capacity crowd, the Oakville Blue Devils finished the 2017 League1 Ontario season with a penalty kick victory over the Woodbridge Strikers. Oakville wins the 2017 League1 Ontario Championship and will be the league's first team to play in the Canadian Championship in 2018. The game was hard fought with both clubs putting it all on the line, at points boiling over, as a packed but divided stadium try to encourage their favorite team to victory.
Oakville won the Western Division by four points over clubs like Sigma FC, Toronto FC III, and FC London. Led by keeper Matt George, defender Victor Gallo, Connor McNamara and Al James, the speed of Khody Ellis and attacking force of Anthony Novak, Mathew Santos and Filipe Vilela, who combined for 34 goals during the regular season. Meanwhile, Woodbridge won the Eastern Division by one point over Vaughan, Durham and North Toronto. Woodbridge included players from my prospect list Quillan Roberts and Dylan Carreiro, as well as midfielders Oscar Cordan, and Joshua Paredes Proctor, Defenders Stephen Almeida and Michael Krezminski, with Christian Cavallini and Marco Nunes up front.
Woodbridge took the lead in the first half with a goal from former Toronto FC II player Nunes, who got ahead of the Oakville defense and slotted it in at the 11th minute. The game played out evenly with both teams getting their chances until Brandon Duarte tied the game for the Blue Devils in the 66th minute.
The final 30 minutes saw chances on both end, including potential penalty calls and tempers getting to both clubs as they tried to score the winner. After the second half whistle the score was 1-1 and the game went to penalties. Goalkeepers George and Roberts both saved one PK, although Woodbridge also missed a penalty kick giving Oakville the win and the title.
Going into the season my prediction for the final would have been Sigma vs Vaughan, although the two finalists would have been my second pick and as the season progressed it is not surprising both clubs made the final.
Oakville and Woodbridge were two of the older teams in the league, but more importantly the most consistent teams in the league, using less players during the season then any other team. Both are also well respected youth clubs in Ontario, which showed by the support at the game. Also, if you look at the history of clubs, both have won many championships at different age levels and this is Oakville's second League1 Ontario championship, while Woodbridge has won two League1 Ontario Cups, including the 2017 trophy.
Overall it was a successful 2017 League1 Ontario season, including plenty of close match ups and outstanding performances, including Jarek Whiteman scoring a league record 29 goals. Meanwhile in the women's Division, FC London dominated both the league and Cup, including Jade Kovacevic retaining her top goalscorer title with an incredible 40 goals.
My own opinion of the league is that every game I've attended I've been impressed by the play on the field and don't notice a huge jump in quality from other leagues that might be perceived stronger, such as NPSL, PDL, NCAA and even USL. Looking at the standings there is certainly a gap in terms of team quality, where thoughts of maybe splitting the divisions by talent and having Promotion/Relegation might be considered going forward. League1 is also a long haul with teams needing to fill out complete rosters for six months, as well as replacing potential players needing to go back to their schools stateside, which hurt the chances of clubs like Sigma and Vaughan in making the final.
Although I do feel there is an opportunity to grow, adding to the interest in the league right now. Of the two League1 Ontario games I attended at the Ontario Soccer Centre both were sold out, while TFC II this year playing at the same stadium averaged less then 1000 fans per game this season. To add to this, I feel there is room for a lot of grassroots initiative to create hometown clubs and attract the attendance you see for minor league hockey. I would also encourage anyone who wishes to work in sports to look at working for, or volunteering, with a League1 Ontario club as you'll learn a lot from game day management to how a sports club maintains viability.
No one wants to lose a game on penalties and I empathize with Woodbridge in what they went through this season only to lose on a missed penalty kick. Although I can say everyone last night left the park entertained and invested in the game. Which is two of things talked about in evaluating Canadian Premier League's overall worth, and will it be successful. Friday's game not only showed the desire of the game in Canada, but also the importance of League1 in the province of Ontario.
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Aaron Neilsen is a co-founder of Prospect XI (Prospect Eleven), a scouting network and online magazine dedicated to tracking/highlighting young players that refer to as "prospects" as well as their development pathways both within North America and worldwide. Follow PXI via www.prospectxi.com or on twitter @ProspectXI.
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