The 2016 Men's League1 Ontario season was the third season of play for League1 Ontario, a Division 3 semi-professional soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the highest level of soccer based in the Canadian province of Ontario.
This season saw the return of all but one of the teams which completed the previous season, as well as the addition of five new teams for the men's division.
Changes from 2015 Five new teams joined the men's division for this season. Aurora United FC, North Mississauga SC, North Toronto Nitros, Toronto Skillz FC added new entries, while FC London moved over from the Premier Development League. One team (ANB Futbol) from 2015 did not renew their license, resulting in a 16-team competition and a change from a single-table format to a two-conference format.
The league's cup tournament for the men's division will be a single-elimination competition; eliminating the group stage seen in previous editions.
On June 16, 2016, Toronto FC entered into a partnership with the Windsor Stars wherein the latter would become a "regional satellite club" of the former, who would in turn provide technical and coaching development. As part of the agreement, Windsor would become known as "Windsor TFC" in the future. The agreement does not affect the participation in L1O of either the Windsor Stars or the TFC Academy team.
Teams
Team City Stadium Founded First season Head coach Western Conference FC London London, Ontario German Canadian FC Stadium 2008 2016 Mario Despotović North Mississauga SC Mississauga, Ontario Hershey Centre, Field 2 1982 2016 Rick Titus Oakville Blue Devils Oakville, Ontario Sheridan Stadium 1994 2015 Duncan Wilde ProStars FC Brampton, Ontario Victoria Park Stadium 2015 2015 Josef Komlodi Sanjaxx Lions Toronto, Ontario Monarch Park Stadium 2012 2015 Peter Mellon Sigma FC Mississauga, Ontario Hershey Centre, Field 1 2005 2014 Bobby Smyrniotis Toronto FC Academy Toronto, Ontario KIA Training Ground 2008 2014 Stuart Neely Windsor Stars Windsor, Ontario McHugh Stadium 2004 2014 Shane Topalovic Eastern Conference Aurora United FC Aurora, Ontario Sheppard's Bush 1964 2016 Jim Brennan Durham United FA Pickering, Ontario Kinsmen Park 2014 2014 Sanford Carabin Kingston Clippers Kingston, Ontario Tindall Field, Queen's University 1971 2014 Christian Hoefler Master's Futbol Toronto, Ontario L'Amoreaux Park 2012 2014 Andre Savelev North Toronto Nitros Toronto, Ontario Varsity Stadium 1980 2016 Hermann Kingué Toronto Skillz FC Toronto, Ontario Birchmount Stadium 2008 2016 Leslie Fitzpatrick Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan, Ontario McNaughton Park 2014 2014 Carmine Isacco Woodbridge Strikers Woodbridge, Ontario Vaughan Grove 1976 2014 Peter Pinizzotto
Standings
Each team played 22 matches as part of the season; two against every team in their own conference, and one against every team in the opposing conference. The top team from each conference met at the end of the season to determine the league champion and face the PLSQ league champion in the Inter-Provincial Cup.
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
League Championship The league champion is determined by a single-match series between the top-ranked teams from the western and eastern conferences.
L1 Cup The cup tournament is a separate contest from the rest of the season, in which all sixteen teams from the men's division take 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 Canadian Championship or the FA 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 four total rounds culminating in a final match at the end of July, with initial matchups determined by random draw. Each match in the tournament must return a result; any match drawn after 90 minutes will advance directly to kicks from the penalty mark instead of extra time.
Round of 16
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final
Inter-Provincial Cup Championship The Inter-Provincial Cup Championship was a two-legged home-and-away series between the league champions of League1 Ontario and the Première ligue de soccer du Québec – the only Division 3 men's semi-professional soccer leagues based fully within Canada.
CS Mont-Royal Outremont won 3–2 on aggregate
Statistics
Top scorers
RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Elvir Gigolaj FC London 24 2 Simon Adjei Aurora United FC 19 3 Leaford Allen Sigma FC 17 4 Kilian Elkinson North Toronto Nitros 15 5 Tyrell Rayne Master's Futbol 14 Jarek Whiteman Vaughan Azzurri 14 Michael Marcoccia FC London 14 8 Filipe Vilela Oakville Blue Devils 13 9 Jumbo Iyowuna Windsor Stars 12 10 Joey Melo North Mississauga SC 11 Ethan Beckford Toronto FC Academy 11 Mario Kovacevic Vaughan Azzurri 11 Source: League1 Ontario
Top goalkeepers
RankPlayerClubMinutesGAA 1 Joseph Kuta Sigma FC 540 0.67 2 Matt George Woodbridge Strikers 1775 0.86 3 Brogan Engbers Toronto FC Academy 1104 0.90 4 Andrew D'Souza Vaughan Azzurri 810 1.22 5 Connor Bullen North Toronto Nitros 720 1.25 6 Mark Rogal North Toronto Nitros 1170 1.46 7 Ben Cowman Durham United FA 1080 1.50 8 Triston Henry Sigma FC 1071 1.60 9 Anthony Sokalski FC London 1710 1.63 10 Kyle Vizarakis Windsor Stars 1620 1.83 Minimum 540 minutes played. Source: League1 Ontario
All-Star Game
On July 25, the league announced the rosters for the first-ever all-star game, to be played between the eastern and western conferences. Eighteen players for each team were selected by coaches and league officials, and each roster contains at least one player from each team in their respective conference.
Due to the unavailability of some players, the league released updated rosters for both western and eastern teams on August 2.
+ Western Conference All-Stars Pos. Name Team Starters GK Matt Zaikos Sanjaxx Lions D Stephen Al-Sayed FC London D *Al James Oakville Blue Devils D Eric Crawford Oakville Blue Devils D Jerome Smith Sigma FC MF *Chris Nanco Sigma FC MF/F Joey Melo North Mississauga SC MF *Kota Sakurai Toronto FC Academy F *Elvir Gigolaj FC London F Leaford Allen Sigma FC F Felipe Vilela Oakville Blue Devils Substitutes GK Anthony Sokalski FC London D *Rocco Romeo Toronto FC Academy D *Jamar Kelly Windsor Stars MF Lee Victor Massunda North Mississauga SC MF *Kwame Awuah Sigma FC MF *Erick Olazabal ProStars FC F/MF *Michael Pio Windsor Stars Replacements D Jerome Smith Sigma FC D Shawn Brown North Mississauga SC MF Christian Samaniego Sigma FC MF Gil Hong ProStars FC MF Noah Pio Windsor Stars MF Randy Ribeiro FC London F Jumbo Iyowuna Windsor Stars F Hilliard Serrao Sanjaxx Lions
+ Eastern Conference All-Stars Pos. Name Team Starters GK Matt George Woodbridge Strikers D Bruce Cullen Durham United FA D Niba MacDonald North Toronto Nitros D Nyal Higgins Vaughan Azzurri D Stephen Almeida Woodbridge Strikers MF *Jonathan Lao Vaughan Azzurri MF Dylan Carreiro Woodbridge Strikers MF Jarek Whiteman Vaughan Azzurri MF Stefan Lamanna Durham United FA F Kilian Elkinson North Toronto Nitros F Simon Adjei Aurora United FC Substitutes GK Mark Rogal North Toronto Nitros D Cameron Brooks Woodbridge Strikers D Eric Koskins Kingston Clippers MF Tyrell Rayne Master's Futbol MF Ryan Reid Toronto Skillz FC F Kashiff De Jonge Durham United FA F Andrew Martin Kingston Clippers Replacements MF Eddie Lay Durham United FA
Awards
AwardPlayer (club) Goal of the Year Hilliard Serrao (Sanjaxx Lions) Most Valuable Player Elvir Gigolaj (FC London) Golden Boot Elvir Gigolaj (FC London) Coach of the Year Carmine Isacco (Vaughan Azzurri) Young Player of the Year Kota Sakurai (Toronto FC Academy) Defender of the Year Niba MacDonald (North Toronto Nitros) Goalkeeper of the Year Matt George (Woodbridge Strikers)
First Team All-Stars GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Matt George (Woodbridge Strikers) Cameron Brooks (Woodbridge Strikers)Niba MacDonald (North Toronto Nitros)Bruce Cullen (Durham United FA) Randy Ribeiro (FC London)Kashiff De Jonge (Durham United FA)Joey Melo (North Mississauga SC)Joseph Di Chiara (Vaughan Azzurri) Leaford Allen (Sigma FC)Elvir Gigolaj (FC London)Jarek Whiteman (Vaughan Azzurri)
Second Team All-Stars GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwards Anthony Sokalski (FC London)Matt Zaikos (Sanjaxx Lions) Tyrell Rayne (Master's Futbol)Jarred Phillips (Vaughan Azzurri)Thanujan Jeyathilaka (Toronto Skills FC)Jerome Smith (Sigma FC)Rocco Romeo (Toronto FC Academy)Kevin Dhillon (North Mississauga SC) Stephen Almeida (Woodbridge Strikers)Brandon Mills (Vaughan Azzurri)Khody Ellis (Oakville Blue Devils)Mackenzie Roach (Kingston Clippers)Justin Stoddart (Sigma FC)Dylan Carreiro (Woodbridge Strikers)Kota Sakurai (Toronto FC Academy)Celso Carapau (Windsor Stars) Simon Adjei (Aurora United FC)Kilian Elkinson (North Toronto Nitros)Manny Slewa (ProStars FC)Mario Kovacevic (Vaughan Azzurri)
References
External links