2021 League1 Ontario season (women)

This article is about the women's season. For the men's season, see 2021 League1 Ontario season.

League1 Ontario
Women's Division

Season	2021
Dates	July 2, 2021 - November 7, 2021
Champions	Woodbridge Strikers
Regular Season Champions	FC London
Matches played	42
Goals scored	180 (4.29 per match)
Top goalscorer	Jade Kovacevic (16)
← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 League1 Ontario season was the sixth season of play (the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) for the Women's Division of League1 Ontario, a Division 3 women's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the highest level of soccer based in the Canadian province of Ontario.

The league announced a projected start date of July 2, 2021, also announcing a 'drop-dead date' of June 7, 2021 that will confirm the start of the season on that date depending on restrictions in the province, otherwise the season would be cancelled.[1][2]

Format

The league will be played in a single table of 7 teams, playing a total of 12 matches, with the top four clubs advancing to the playoffs.[3]

Because the season began three months later than normal and with very short notice, some clubs have opted to delay their return to Premier Division competition until the 2022 season. As a large portion of the L1O player pool consisted of university and college student athletes, some sides would have limited squads after Labour Day. To combat these challenges, the league created a short-season ‘Summer Championship Series’ for 2021, which will conclude by Labour Day.[3]

In addition, the Reserve Division will begin for the first time (after the inaugural women's reserve division was cancelled along with the rest of the league in 2020, following a similar format to the Premier Division, featuring 10 teams playing 12 matches, with the top teams advancing to the playoffs and featuring Championship Finals weekend on November 6-7.[3]

Clubs

The women's division consists of 15 teams, an increase from 13 teams in 2020. Guelph Union, Tecumseh SC, and Waterloo United are new addition, while Aurora FC did not return.[4] North Toronto Nitros will also be making their official debut, after their inaugural season was cancelled due to the pandemic.

The following clubs are set to participate in the league:

Team	City	Principal stadium	Main Division	Summer Championship Division	Reserve Division
Alliance United FC	Markham	Mount Joy & Centennial College	Withdrew	Did not enter	Participating
Blue Devils FC	Oakville	Sheridan Trafalgar Stadium	Participating	Participating (Two teams)	Withdrew
Darby FC	Whitby	Whitby Soccer Centre & Darlington Field	Withdrew	Participating	Withdrew
Hamilton United	Hamilton	Ron Joyce Stadium & Tim Hortons Field	Participating	Did not enter	Withdrew
FC London	London	German Canadian Club	Participating	Did not enter	Participating
FC Oshawa	Oshawa	Civic Stadium	Withdrew	Did not enter	Withdrew
Guelph Union	Guelph	Alumni Stadium	Withdrew	Participating	Withdrew
North Mississauga SC	Mississauga	Paramount Fine Foods Centre	Withdrew	Did not enter	Participating
North Toronto Nitros	Toronto	Downsview Turf	Participating	Did not enter	Withdrew
Pickering FC	Pickering	Kinsmen Park	Withdrew	Did not enter	Participating
Tecumseh SC	Tecumseh	University of Windsor Stadium	Participating	Did not enter	Participating
Unionville Milliken SC	Markham	Azzurri Village & Mount Joy	Withdrew	Participating	Participating
Vaughan Azzurri	Vaughan	North Maple Regional Park	Participating	Participating	Participating
Waterloo United	Waterloo	Warrior Field, University of Waterloo	Withdrew	Participating	Withdrew
Woodbridge Strikers	Vaughan	Vaughan Grove	Participating	Did not enter	Participating

The following clubs, while not formally part of the League1 Ontario women's division are operating teams in the Reserve Division (both clubs operate teams in the men's division):

Team	City	Principal stadium	Main Division	Summer Championship Division	Reserve Division
Master's Futbol	Toronto	L'Amoreaux Park	N/A	N/A	Participating
ProStars FC	Brampton	Victoria Park Stadium	N/A	N/A	Participating

Main Division

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	FC London	12	9	2	1	26	8	+18	29	Advance to playoffs
2	Woodbridge Strikers (O)	12	6	3	3	28	11	+17	21
3	Vaughan Azzurri	12	6	2	4	19	16	+3	20
4	Blue Devils FC	12	6	1	5	16	18	−2	19
5	Hamilton United	12	4	1	7	21	27	−6	13
6	North Toronto Nitros	12	4	0	8	12	24	−12	12
7	Tecumseh SC	12	2	1	9	8	26	−18	7

Source: Standings
(O) Play-off winners

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Championship Game
	1	FC London	1
	4	Blue Devils FC	2
						4	Blue Devils FC	0
						2	Woodbridge Strikers	1
	2	Woodbridge Strikers	1(4)
	3	Vaughan Azzurri	1(3)

Semi-finals

FC London v Blue Devils FC

October 31, 2021	FC London	1–2	Blue Devils FC	London, Ontario
2:00 PM	Lewis 27'	Report	Kozak 39' Twidle 71'	Stadium: Tricar Field

Woodbridge Strikers v Vaughan Azzurri

October 31, 2021	Woodbridge Strikers	1–1 (4–3 p)	Vaughan Azzurri	Vaughan, Ontario
2:00 PM	Oduro 88'	Report	Desa 37'	Stadium: Vaughan Grove Park

Final

Woodbridge Strikers v Blue Devils FC

November 7, 2021	Woodbridge Strikers	1–0	Blue Devils FC	Vaughan, Ontario
7:00 PM	Dolan 7'	Report		Stadium: Ontario Soccer Centre Referee: Amanda Kwan

Statistics

Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Jade Kovacevic FC London 16 2 Miranda Badovinac Hamilton United 9 3 Kennedi Herrmann Woodbridge Strikers 7 4 Laura Twidle Blue Devils FC 6 4 Jenny Wolever Hamilton United 5 Nia Fleming-Thompson Vaughan Azzurri Source: [1]

Top goalkeepers Rank Player Club Minutes GAA 1 Marilena Spagnolo Hamilton United 270 0.67 Patricia Koutoulas North Toronto Nitros 270 0.67 3 Breanne Carreiro FC London 341 0.79 4 Vanessa Fiore Darby FC 856 0.84 5 Emily Gillet Woodbridge Strikers 739 0.85 Minimum 270 minutes played. Source: [2]

Honours

The following awards and nominations were awarded for the 2021 season.[5]

Awards

Award	Player	Team
Most Valuable Player	Laura Twidle	Blue Devils FC
Golden Boot	Jade Kovacevic	FC London
Coach of the Year	Dave Porco	Woodbridge Strikers
Top Goalkeeper	Vanessa Fiore	Woodbridge Strikers
Top Defender	Meghan Scott	FC London
Top Midfielder	Julia Benati	FC London

League All-Stars

First Team Player Position Vanessa Fiore (Woodbridge Strikers) Goalkeeper Meghan Scott (FC London) Defender Christina White (Woodbridge Strikers) Defender Teniola Odetoyinho (Vaughan Azzurri) Defender Talia Merino-Sierra (Blue Devils FC) Defender Julia Benati (FC London) Midfielder April Syme (Woodbridge Strikers) Midfielder Lidia Bradau (Blue Devils FC) Midfielder Jade Kovacevic (FC London) Forward Laura Twidle (Blue Devils FC) Forward Jenny Wolever (Hamilton United) Forward

Second Team Player Position Emily Gillet (FC London) Goalkeeper Olivia Mancini (North Toronto Nitros) Defender Ariana Mouratidis (Woodbridge Strikers) Defender Lorena Marcone (Hamilton United) Defender Brooke MacLeod (Tecumseh SC) Defender Hannah Anderson (Hamilton United) Midfielder Brianne Desa (Vaughan Azzurri) Midfielder Angelika Mihalopoulos (FC London) Midfielder Jessie De Boer (North Toronto Nitros) Midfielder Miranda Badovinac (Hamilton United) Forward Kennedi Herrmann (Woodbridge Strikers) Forward

Summer Championship Division

The league is operating a short-season division called the Summer Championship in 2021.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Guelph Union	6	6	0	0	17	1	+16	18
2	Vaughan Azzurri B	6	3	1	2	10	9	+1	10
3	Blue Devils FC B	6	3	0	3	13	11	+2	9
4	Waterloo United	6	2	1	3	10	9	+1	7
5	Unionville Milliken SC	6	2	1	3	13	13	0	7
6	Blue Devils FC C	6	1	2	3	10	23	−13	5
7	Darby FC	6	1	1	4	7	14	−7	4

Source: Standings

Reserve Division

The league is set to operate a Reserve division this season as well.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Woodbridge Strikers B	12	10	1	1	60	7	+53	31	Advance to playoffs
2	Unionville Milliken SC B	12	9	0	3	30	15	+15	27
3	Alliance United FC	12	8	3	1	29	14	+15	27
4	Vaughan Azzurri C (O)	12	7	3	2	29	14	+15	24
5	Tecumseh SC B	12	7	2	3	36	32	+4	23
6	ProStars FC	12	4	1	7	16	22	−6	13
7	FC London B	12	4	1	7	14	22	−8	13
8	Pickering FC	12	3	1	8	15	36	−21	10
9	Master's Futbol	12	1	1	10	9	45	−36	4
10	North Mississauga SC	12	0	1	11	10	41	−31	1

Source: Standings
(O) Play-off winners

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Championship Game
	1	Woodbridge Strikers B	0
	4	Vaughan Azzurri C	2
						4	Vaughan Azzurri C	1(6)
						2	Unionville Milliken SC B	1(5)
	2	Unionville Milliken SC B	1
	3	Alliance United	0

Semi-finals

Woodbridge Strikers B v Vaughan Azzurri C

November 5, 2021	Woodbridge Strikers B	0–2	Vaughan Azzurri C	Vaughan, Ontario
9:00 PM		Report	Fleming-Thompson 7' Paraskevopoulos 44'	Stadium: Vaughan Grove Sports Park

Unionville Milliken B v Alliance United

November 5, 2021	Unionville Milliken B	1–0	Alliance United	Unionville, Ontario
9:00 PM	Sinda 26'	Report		Stadium: Bill Crothers Secondary School

Final

Unionville Milliken B v Vaughan Azzurri C

November 14, 2021	Unionville Milliken B	1–1 (5–6 p)	Vaughan Azzurri C	Vaughan, Ontario
1:00 PM	Allen 11'	Report	Famele 30'	Stadium: Ontario Soccer Centre Referee: Vasyl Dzikh
	Penalties

References

1. "League1 Ontario shifts potential 2021 start date to July 2nd". League1 Ontario. May 7, 2021.
2. Jacques, John (May 7, 2021). "League1 Ontario Reveals 2021 Season Start Date". Northern Tribune.
3. "League1 Ontario Set To Kick Off Seventh Season With Late July Fixtures". League1 Ontario. July 22, 2021.
4. "League1 Ontario adds three women's teams for 2021". League1 Ontario. February 3, 2021.
5. Thompson, Marty (December 21, 2021). "2021 L1O Women's Premier Division Awards: Twidle Earns MVP, FC London Dominate Again". League1 Ontario.

External links

• Official website