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 CrothersFilipe 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 TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerRefElectric City FCJamie SherwoodMutual terminationMay 20, 2022Randy Ribeiro (interim)Master's FARick TitusResignedJune 1, 2022Junior Groves
Premier Division
Playoffs
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Statistics
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Massimo Ferrin Vaughan Azzurri 23 Miles Green Hamilton United 3 Taha Ilyass Blue Devils FC 19 4 Ameer Kinani ProStars FC 17 5 Kosi Nwafornso Vaughan Azzurri 16 6 Ethan Beckford Simcoe County Rovers 15 7 Augustus Oku Burlington SC 14 8 Jevontae Layne Scrosoppi FC 11 Jordan Brown Electric City Amir Shirazi Hamilton United Atchuthan Sivananthan Alliance United Updated to end of regular season. Source: League1 Ontario
Top goalkeepers
RankPlayerClubMinutesGAA 1 Praveen Ahilan Alliance United 1710 0.74 2 Lucas Birnstingl Blue Devils FC 1620 0.83 3 Ali Ghazanfari-Moghaddan North Toronto Nitros 1485 0.85 4 Ricky Gomes Simcoe County Rovers 1305 0.97 5 Quillan Roberts Electric City FC 1530 1.12 Updated to end of regular season. Minimum 900 minutes played. Source:
League honours Awards Award Player Team RefMost Valuable Player Massimo Ferrin Vaughan Azzurri Young Player of the Year (U20) Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy ProStars FCCoach of the Year Patrice Gheisar Vaughan AzzurriGoalkeeper of the Year Praveen Ahilan Alliance UnitedDefender of the Year Amardo Oakley Guelph United F.C.Midfielder of the Year Nikola Stakic Alliance UnitedForward of the Year Miles Green Hamilton UnitedGolden Boot Massimo Ferrin Vaughan Azzurri
League All-Stars The following players were named League1 Ontario Premier Division All-Stars for the 2022 season:
First Team All-Stars Player PositionPraveen Ahilan (Alliance United) GoalkeeperAmardo Oakley (Guelph United) DefenderKenny Lioutas (Alliance United) DefenderJustyn Thomas (Vaughan Azzurri) DefenderNirun Sivananthan (Alliance United) DefenderMarkiyan Voytsekhovskyy (ProStars) MidfielderNikola Stakic (Alliance United) MidfielderAndron Kagramanyan (Vaughan Azzurri) MidfielderTaha Ilyass (Blue Devils) ForwardMiles Green (Hamilton United) ForwardMassimo Ferrin (Vaughan Azzurri) Forward
Second Team All-Stars Player PositionAli Ghazanfari-Moghaddan (North Toronto) GoalkeeperRiley Ferrazzo (Vaughan Azzurri) DefenderOluwaseun Oyegunle (Sigma) DefenderMatthew Chandler (Blue Devils) DefenderTerrell Spencer (Masters FA) DefenderAlexander Zis (ProStars/Guelph) MidfielderLiam Salmon (Pickering) MidfielderBrandon Duarte (Blue Devils) MidfielderRaheem Rose (Vaughan Azzurri) ForwardEthan Beckford (Simcoe County) ForwardFarris Ammari (ProStars) Forward
Third Team All-Stars Player PositionQuillan Roberts (Electric City) GoalkeeperAnthony Stolar (Scrosoppi) DefenderChristian Westlaken (North Toronto) DefenderConrad Czarnecki (St. Catharines) DefenderZachary Ellis-Hayden (Electric City) DefenderJack Sears (Guelph United) MidfielderTim Mahabir (Unionville Milliken) MidfielderSantiago Fonseca (London) MidfielderWesley Cain (BVB Waterloo) ForwardAugustus Oku (Burlington) ForwardAbdou 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 PositionChristian Calabro (Vaughan Azzurri) GoalkeeperAnthony Stolar (Scrosoppi) DefenderOluwaseun Oyegunle (Sigma) DefenderNikolas Antolcic (BVB Waterloo) DefenderMateo Goldsztein-Herrera (London) MidfielderJuan Delgadillo (North Toronto) MidfielderSantino De Bartolo (Woodbridge) MidfielderMarkiyan Voytsekhovskyy (ProStars) MidfielderMohamed Alshakman (Sigma) MidfielderRyley Wishart (Simcoe County) ForwardKai 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
West Division
Central Division
East Division
Playoffs
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
West Division
Playoffs
References
External links