2024 League1 Ontario season (women) explained

Competition:League1 Ontario
Season:2024
Prevseason:2023
Nextseason:2025

The 2024 Women's League1 Ontario season will be the ninth 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. Starting from this season, the league will split into three divisions with promotion and relegation between them.[1] [2]

The Premier division will be composed by 10 clubs, the Championship division by 10 clubs, all returning from last season. The League2 Ontario will be made up by two conferences containing reserve teams and newly licensed clubs.

League1 Ontario Premier

Competition:League1 Ontario Premier
Season:2024
Prevseason:2023 (as League1 Ontario)
Nextseason:2025

League1 Ontario Premier will be composed by 10 teams, all coming back from the 2023 League1 Ontario season. Those clubs have qualified to the Premier division by finishing in the top half of the combined standings of the previous two seasons, with the exception of the Electric City FC, which have folded, being then replaced by the Blue Devils FC.[3] [4]

The 10 teams will face each other twice, once at home and once away and the club at the top of the standings will be crowned as League1 Ontario champions and gain a berth for the League1 Canada Interprovincial championship. The last placed team will be automatically relegated, while the 9th placed club will play a playoff game against the 2nd placed club of the Championship to stay in the league.

Clubs

TeamCityPrincipal stadiumHead coach
Alliance United FCMarkham / ScarboroughBirchmount Stadium / Varsity Stadium / Ontario Soccer CentreAngelo Cavalluzzo
Blue Devils FCOakvilleSheridan Trafalgar StadiumNatalie Bukovec
FC LondonLondonTricar FieldGarrett Peters
Guelph United FCGuelphCentennial BowlRandy Ribeiro
NDC OntarioVaughanJoey Lombardi
North Mississauga SCMississaugaChurchill Meadows (Mattamy Sports Park)Bijan Azizi
North Toronto NitrosTorontoDownsview ParkBilly Wilson
Simcoe County Rovers FCBarrieJ.C Massie Field, Georgian CollegeCarli Tingstad
Vaughan AzzurriVaughanNorth Maple Regional ParkCarmine Isacco
Woodbridge StrikersWoodbridge (Vaughan)Vaughan GroveDavid Porco

Standings

Promotion/Relegation playoffs

A playoff will be played between the 9th placed team in the Premier and the 2nd placed team in the Championship in a single game for a place in the top tier in 2025.

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Statistics

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1Samantha MurphyWoodbridge Strikers18
2Jade KovacevicNorth Toronto Nitros16
3April LantaigneNDC Ontario11
Julia BenatiFC London
5Olivia RizakosGuelph United9
6Ally RoweFC London9
7Annabelle ChukwuNDC Ontario7
Jayda ThompsonWoodbridge Strikers
Victoria HinchliffeGuelph United
102 players tied6
Source: League1 Ontario

League1 Ontario Championship

Competition:League1 Ontario Championship
Season:2024
Nextseason:2025

League1 Ontario Championship is composed of 10 teams, 8 of those returning from the 2023 League1 Ontario season, Pickering FC who returned from hiatus, and new expansion club Rush Canada SA. Those clubs have qualified for the Championship division by finishing in the bottom half of the combined standings of the previous two seasons of League1 Ontario.

The 10 teams will face each other twice, once at home and once away for a total of 18 games. The club at the top of the standings will be crowned as Championship division winners and will be promoted to the 2025 League1 Ontario Premier. The 2nd ranked team in the standings will face the 9th placed team in the Premier division to gain promotion into the top division for the next season. The team last in the standings will face the winner of the League2 Ontario playoffs winner to stay in the league.

Clubs

TeamCityPrincipal stadiumHead coach
Burlington SCBurlingtonCorpus Christi CSSNeil Wilson
BVB IA WaterlooWaterlooRIM ParkGreg Jespersen
Darby FCWhitbySouth Courtice FieldStuart Robertson
Hamilton UnitedHamiltonRon Joyce Stadium (McMaster University)Carmine Lancia
Pickering FCPickeringPickering Soccer Centre/Kinsmen ParkFrancesco Carriero
ProStars FCBramptonOntario Soccer Centre / Victoria Park Stadium / Terry Fox StadiumMarco Bonofiglio
Rush CanadaOakvilleRiver Oaks ParkMichael Di Blasio
Scrosoppi FCBishop Reding CSSJohn Yacou
Tecumseh United FCTecumsehAcadémie Ste. Cécile International SchoolMohammed Nabavieh
Unionville Milliken SCUnionville (Markham)Ontario Soccer CentreAlex Morales

Standings

Promotion playoffs

The two losing semi-finalists of League2 Ontario will face against each others, the winner will be promoted to the Championship for the 2025 season.

Statistics

Top goalscorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1Abby KraemerBVB IA Waterloo10
Sahara ZinganoScrosoppi FC
Teagan HandleyProStars FC
4Torrie Grant-ClavijoUnionville-Milliken SC8
5Aalayah Michline-Simone LullyScrosoppi FC7
Mya NewcombeScrosoppi FC
Sophia CabralBVB IA Waterloo
87 players tied5
Source: League1 Ontario

League2 Ontario

Competition:League2 Ontario
Season:2024
Nextseason:2025

League2 Ontario clubs will be divided in regional conferences. Those clubs will be either the "B" team of Premier and Championship clubs or newly licensed clubs.

All teams will face each other team in their conference twice, once at home and once away. The top two teams in each division will advance to the promotion playoffs, with the winner being promoted to the Championship.[5]

Northeast Conference

TeamCityPrincipal stadiumHead Coach
Alliance United FC BMarkhamLaura Gosse
Darby FC BDarlingtonFref Chicoy Daban
Master's FAScarborough (Toronto) Alumni FieldJunior Groves
North Mississauga SC BMississaugaChurchill Meadows (Mattamy Sports Park)Laura Arduini
North Toronto Nitros BNorth York (Toronto)Daire O'Brien
Pickering FC BPickeringPeter Hogg
Simcoe County Rovers FC BBarrieMallory MacDonald
Unionville Milliken SC BUnionville (Markham)Bill Crothers Turf WestBill Markos
Vaughan Azzurri BVaughanPaul De Abreu
Woodbridge Strikers BWoodbridge (Vaughan)Gabe Cremonese

Southwest Conference

TeamCityPrincipal stadiumHead Coach
Blue Devils FC BOakvilleNorth Park TurfNatalie Bukovec
Burlington SC BBurlingtonCity View Park CentreMartinho Kibato
BVB IA Waterloo BWaterlooGregory Jespersen
FC London BLondonCity Wide Sports ParkGarrett Peters
Guelph United FC BGuelphMichael Warden
Hamilton United BHamiltonCarmine Lancia
ProStars FC BBramptonJosef Komlodi
Rush Canada SA BOakvilleRiver Oaks ParkMichael Di Blasio
Scrosoppi FC BMiltonJohn Yacou
St. Catharines Roma WolvesSt. CatharinesBrock UniversityDavide Massafra

Playoffs

L1 Cup

The L1 Cup is a league cup tournament that will be contested by teams from all three tiers of League1 Ontario. The Cup will be returning after a five-season hiatus, having last been played in 2018.

All 22 "A" teams will participate in the five-round knockout competition, which will be played concurrently with the league season. Twelve clubs will enter the first round (all ten clubs from the Championship division, and the two A teams from League2), while all ten clubs from the Premier Division will get a bye to the round of 16.[6] The first round is scheduled to begin on the week of April 15.

Bracket

U20 Reserve Division

The league will continue to operate a reserve division (however, unlike previous years where there were both U19 and U21 divisions, there will be a single U20 division).[5]

Playoffs

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Promotion And Relegation Comes To League1 Ontario. January 25, 2022. John. Jacques. Northern Tribune.
  2. Web site: The 2024 Plan: League1 Ontario Announces Plan To Overhaul Its Competition Structure For 2024 Season . . 13 February 2024. January 25, 2024.
  3. Web site: Davies . Mike . Electric City FC ceases operations in Peterborough after two years . . 14 February 2024.
  4. Web site: Tuan Bui . David . Electric City Football Club Folds After Two Years; Pickering FC Acquires Team Licenses . PTBO Canada . 14 February 2024.
  5. Web site: A New Era: A Bluffer’s Guide to the L1ON women’s soccer structure . . 13 February 2024.
  6. Web site: The Grand Return: A bluffer’s guide to the L1 Cup . www.league1ontario.com . League1 Ontario . 14 February 2024.