The 2018 Men's League1 Ontario season was the fifth season of play for

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier ...

, a Division 3 men's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the highest level of soccer based in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. Vaughan Azzurri won the league championship and earned entry into the

2019 Canadian Championship The 2019 Canadian Championship was the twelfth edition of the Canadian Championship, contested from May 15 to September 25, 2019. Montreal Impact won their fourth Canadian Championship title (their tenth Voyageurs Cup) and earned a berth in th ...

; 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 The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

. FC London also announced the affiliation of its youth academy with professional side

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

. 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

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

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

Group stage

;Group A ;Group B

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

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 The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

, 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 In association football, a penalty shoot-out (previously known as kicks from the penalty mark) is a tie-breaking method to determine which team is awarded victory in a match that cannot end in a draw, when the score is tied after the normal tim ...

instead of extra time.

Preliminary round

First round

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Final

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Updated to matches played on August 18, 2018. Source

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Top goalkeepers

Updated to matches played on August 18, 2018. Minimum 270 minutes played. Source

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Awards

The following players received honours in the 2018 season: ; First Team All-Stars ; Second Team All-Stars ; Third Team All-Stars

All-Star Game

The league announced that an All-Star Game between League1 Ontario and the

Première Ligue de soccer du Québec A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film ...

(PLSQ) would once again take place this season. The game was hosted by the PLSQ and was played on June 30.

References

External links

* {{2018 in Canadian soccer League1 League1 Ontario seasons