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League1 Canada Review: Week 20
By We are nearing the end of the League1 Canada season, with just a few rounds left to go in Quebec. Football in Ontario has pretty much wrapped up this week, only one game to go there. Regardless, it was still another busy and exciting week of football in Canada’s pro-am leagues.
Northern Tribune has you covered with a roundup of everything that took place last week. To read last week’s recap, that can be found here.
L1 Cup: Scrosoppi Prevails in Cup Final
The L1 Cup final was on Wednesday, as Scrosoppi faced North Toronto Nitros. Unsurprisingly, the side from Milton was the firm favourite heading into the clash.
It took them 16 minutes to break the deadlock via Miles Green. Scrosoppi continued to hunt for a second goal, and would find it in the 52nd minute through Luka Juricic. Now down 2-0. North Toronto pressed to get back into the match, and managed to find a goal of their own. Marco Sciortino netted his side’s marker in the 69th minute to give them hope.
That hope was extinguished in stoppage time, however. Juricic converted his second of the match to give Scrosoppi a 3-1 win and capture the L1 Cup for the first time. They became the third different side to win the knockout competition, after Vaughan Azzurri and Woodbridge Strikers.
League1 Ontario Premier: Woodbridge Beats Out Scrosoppi to Title
The final round of the Premier Division took place this past week. Scrosoppi, fresh off their cup win, faced North Toronto once more on Saturday, needing a victory to stand a chance at the title. They managed that in an 8-0 thumping, spearheaded by an Orlendis Benitez first half hattrick.
Sunday’s three games were meaningless in the context of the title and relegation. Sigma FC beat Oakville SC 3-1 on the road, Alliance United edged St. Catharines Roma Wolves 3-2, and Vaughan Azzurri topped Burlington SC 4-0.
Woodbridge Strikers, who led the league heading into the final round, played the already-relegated FC London. The match initially took place on Saturday, but had to be replayed on Tuesday due to averse weather. Woodbridge had a 2-0 advantage after one half of football before the game was called off.
Funny enough, Peter Pinozzotto’s side raced to a 2-0 lead before the break once more in Tuesday’s contest. Anthony Khananisho and Anthony Morano grabbed the side’s two goals. While FC London did make it tricky for their opponents, they were no match for this high-powered Woodbridge attack, who scored a third in stoppage time via Morano. The 3-0 win saw them win the title for the first time.
This is how the final standings look in League1 Ontario’s Premier Division. Woodbridge will be the province’s representative in the 2026 Canadian Championship. FC London will return to the Championship Division, with North Toronto playing in a one-game playoff to try and keep maintain their Premier Division status for next season.
League1 Ontario Championship: Unionville and Sudbury Go Up
The Championship Division also came to a close last week, with seven matches occurring. On Wednesday, the Sudbury Cyclones wrapped up their campaign with a 4-0 defeat of Guelph United. The victory meant the side guaranteed promotion to the Premier Division, moving up a league for the second year running.
On Friday, The Borough came away with a 3-1 success at Master’s FA. Whitby FC won the other game that night by a 1-0 scoreline over Waterloo United. Saturday’s lone contest ended in a 1-1 draw between Hamilton United Elite and Pickering FC.
Sunday saw Unionville Milliken prevail 3-1 at York United Academy. George Akpabio scored twice for the visitors, who not only clinched the other automatic promotion place, but won the league title. Also that day, Master’s beat North Mississauga 4-0, and The Borough drew 3-3 at Windsor City.
Unionville and Sudbury finished as the top two in the league, with their reward being places in the Premier Division. The Borough’s third place showing means they will face North Toronto in a playoff match to determine the final spot in Ontario’s top division.
There was no relegation from the Championship this year, which is good news for Hamilton United. They end up winless across all competitions for the second year in a row. At the time of writing, the league has not confirmed who the last team in the second tier will be. As confirmed by the league, Cambridge United, who won the League2 Ontario Southwest Conference, will take the last spot in the division next season.
Ligue1 Quebec: Celtix, St-Hubert Take Final Cup Spots
Ligue1 Quebec’s regular season came to a close last week, as six games occurred. Wednesday kicked things off with FC Laval beating CS Longueuil 4-1. Ludwig Kodzo Amla netted twice for the 2024 winners in a solid win.
League champions CS St-Laurent concluded their regular season with a 2-1 success at CS St-Hubert on Friday. On Saturday, Ottawa South United and AS Blainville drew 1-1, while AS Laval topped CS Mont-Royal Outremont 5-1. Sunday’s final two games saw Royal Select Beauport beat FC Laval 4-2, and Celtix du Haut-Richelieu prevail 4-2 over Longueuil.
This is how the regular season ended in Quebec’s top tier. St-Laurent finishes 14 points ahead of AS Laval at the top, losing just once all year. Ottawa and Longueuil finish as the bottom two, and will not feature in the playoffs.
The Coupe L1Q starts off on Sunday with quarterfinal play. Beauport will face Blainville, St-Laurent and St-Hubert go at it once again, FC Laval takes on CSMRO, and AS Laval battles Celtix.
Ligue2 Quebec: Playoff Hopefuls Closing In
Things are becoming much clearer in Ligue2 Quebec heading into the final few weeks of play. Saturday once again saw all 24 teams involved in the action. CSRDP kicked things off with a 10-0 success over AS Brossard. Revolution FC followed that up by beating CF L’International de Quebec 4-1 thanks to a hattrick from Danis Armand Koama.
AS Chaudiere-Ouest kept their slender playoff hopes alive with a 2-1 defeat of CS St-Lazare Hudson. As for Mistral de Sherbrooke, they impressed with a 6-2 victory at CS Boucherville, coming from two goals down. The wins keep on coming for AS Gatineau, as they prevailed 3-0 over CS Levis-Est.
St-Jerome and CS Trident drew 2-2, while CS LaSalle inched closer to the title as they topped Panellinios St-Michel 3-1. Loic Kwemi scored twice in three minutes midway through the second half to seal their 17th win of the year. Lakeshore SC remains right behind them after a 5-0 success against AS Montis.
Phenix des Rivieres won a six-pointer in dramatic fashion, edging CS Trois-Rivieres 4-3 on the road. CS Roussillon prevailed 2-0 versus AS St-Leonard, with Boreal FC winning by the same score versus CS Braves Ahuntsic. CS Montreal-Centre all but clinched their playoff spot thanks to a 2-0 result against Union Lanaudiere Sud.
LaSalle is a point away from winning the division and securing promotion to the top flight. Lakeshore, AS Gatineau, Montreal-Centre, and Revolution are set to battle it out for the final place. Speaking of final spots, Trident, Phenix des Rivieres, International de Quebec, and Trois-Rivieres are the quartet pushing to remain in the league for next year and avoid relegation to Ligue3 Quebec.
Funny enough, the last four sides mentioned go at it on Wednesday, with Trident facing Trois-Riveres, and Phenix meeting L’International de Quebec. LaSalle will have their chance to claim top honours on Sunday when they welcome St-Lazare Hudson.
Ligue3 Quebec: Playoff Quartet Victorious
We are already certain of the four teams partaking in the Ligue3 Quebec playoffs, making the remaining matches dead rubbers. Of course, it is worth remembering that there is no promotion from the division this year.
Wednesday had two games, as CS Lanaudiere-Nord topped FS Salaberry 3-0. CSMRO B also won on the night, beating Notre-Dame-de-Grace SA 2-1. The joy was short-lived for CSMRO B though, as they fell 1-0 on Saturday to CS Titans. Boreal d’Alma completed their regular season play with a 2-0 success against Chevaliers NDMC.
Senior Venturi defeated FC Anjou 3-0, with AS Laval B coming out on top 5-1 at CS Haute-St-Charles. CS Fury de Rimouski prevailed 3-0 at Celtix B, and Mondial de Riviere-du-Loup got past Vallee Blizz’Or 2-0. Blizz’Or and Fury met the next day, with the latter winning 2-0. Longueuil B also played on Sunday, winning 7-1 over Mondial RDP. Julien Noiret scored four times in the victory.
Longueuil B, who still has one more regular season game, will finish atop the regular season standings. Fury grabbed second spot ahead of Boreal d’Alma and Senior Venturi, who ended third and fourth respectively.
NDGSA hosts AS Laval B on Wednesday before heading to CS Titans on Sunday. The following week, Longueuil B and AS Laval B will face off in the final regular season contest.
Header Image Photo Credit: Martin Bazyl