After a grueling match which went into overtime - the Oakville Blue Devils won against the Woodbridge Strikers and became the 2017 Ontario League1 Men's Champions. The game was played at the Ontario Soccer Stadium in Vaughan on Friday, October 20, 2017.
Marcos Nunos opened the scoring in the 11th minute for Woodbridge and Brandon Duarte’s 66th minute equalizer meant penalty kicks were necessary.
As the ninety minutes of play came to an end, the decision came down to penalty kicks of which Oakville Blue Devils scored four goals and the Woodbridge Strikers scored 3. Matt George, Oakville's Goaltender won the match. Matt previously had played for Woodbridge, and commented that, "it was a bitter sweet".
Now the Oakville Blue Devils will be playing for the 2018 Canadian Championship. This will be the first time that the champions of League1 Ontario and Première Ligue de soccer du Québec. The champion for Première Ligue de soccer du Québec has not been determined. The current title holder for the Canadian Championship are the Toronto FC, who has won the title five times making it the most successful club. The winner of the Canadian Championship will play for the FIFA World Cup
“It’s a great opportunity for them to work themselves over the winter and come back at professional fitness level—otherwise this is pointless,” said head coach Duncan Wilde. “We’ve got a lot of work. We’ve got a lot of training all winter and get ready. The opportunity to play some of the pro teams is exciting.”
Founded in 2014,League1 Ontario is the only pro-am, standards-based, senior league in Ontario.
The league began with a 10 team Men’s division, which has now grown to 16 teams and includes a separate 11-team women’s division.
League1 Ontario serves as a stepping stone between the youth, amateur ranks, and the full-on professional sides.