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Blue Devils players celebrate

Weekly Rewind

By League1 Ontario staff, 06/06/23, 9:15AM EDT

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A busy weekend of games saw new Men’s Premier Division leaders and the gap close at the top of the women’s table.

Alliance United players celebrate scoring against Darby

The top seven Men's Premier Division teams separated by two points

New leaders

Scrosoppi ended Friday night at the top of the Men’s Premier Division table after beating St Catharines Roma Wolves 2-1. The home side took the lead through Michael Solomon but Scrosoppi rallied to score two of their own and grab their sixth win of the campaign.

In the day’s other men’s game North Mississauga and Guelph United played out a 1-1 tie. The visitors came into this one as favourites due to their higher position in the table, but the Panthers put on a good performance in front of their fans and equalised four minutes after falling behind to get themselves a point.

In the Women’s Premier Division, leaders Vaughan Azzurri dropped points for only the second time this season after they were held to a goalless tie at Darby. The Azzurri have a two-point lead at the top of the standings and play against North Mississauga tonight, but second-placed Alliance United have a game in hand.

Double delight for Alliance United and Simcoe County Rovers

There were seven Women’s Premier Division games on Saturday with teams looking to close the gap on Vaughan.

Alliance United did just that with an impressive 4-0 win over ProStars. Madison Mariani scored a first-half brace before Laura Gosse and Leda Naihin put the result beyond doubt.

St Catharines Roma Wolves also put on an eye-catching performance as they scored five against Hamilton United, with Arianna Zumpano scoring twice. The home side did manage to reply in the second half with a Maila Carboni brace but were well beaten on the day.

There were five goals at the J. C. Massie Field as Simcoe County Rovers beat Tecumseh 3-2. Kailyn Robertson gave Tecumseh an early lead but three goals in 16 minutes saw the hosts take control before the break. Tecumseh did pull one back in the second half but couldn’t find an equaliser.

North Toronto Nitros suffered their first defeat of the season when they were beaten at home by the visiting Woodbridge Strikers. The away side had a difficult start to 2023 with one win in five games but have found their form recently, winning their last three matches and Jessica Lisi scoring another brace at the weekend.

Burlington made it two victories in two games when they won on the road against North Mississauga. The hosts have had a better season so far than their opponents but a late Nassima Benmessaoud goal gave the Bayhawks victory.

Elsewhere, Electric City bounced back from their loss against Woodbridge Strikers last time out to beat Unionville Milliken 3-1, and FC London and Guelph Union played out a 1-1 tie.

There was another change at the top of the Men’s Premier Division on Saturday as Blue Devils moved ahead of Scrosoppi by beating FC London 2-0. Adam Czerkawski was again the difference as he found the back of the net twice and the former defender, converted striker, now leads the scoring charts with nine goals.

Alliance United and Simcoe County Rovers also picked up wins in Men’s Premier Division on Saturday. Nikola Stakic’s goal saw Alliance beat Darby 1-0 and now sit one point behind the new leaders in the men’s division, and Simcoe County Rovers made it back-to-back 2-1 wins as they won against Electric City; Orlendis Benitez-Hernandez was the hero as his second-half brace overturned Nigel Buckley’s fourth goal of the week having scored a hat-trick on Wednesday.

Our final game on Saturday saw North Toronto Nitros and Woodbridge Strikers unable to be separated as was the case in 2022. The match finished 1-1 and both sides remain mid-table.

Burlington men's players celebrate

Burlington back to winning ways

Burlington emerge as challengers

There were four L1O matches to round off the weekend, three of which were in the Men’s Premier Division.

Burlington moved level on points with Blue Devils and Scrosoppi at the top of the division after they beat BVB IA Waterloo; Keani Fairbanks scored the only goal of the game.

Reigning champions Vaughan Azzurri made the most of home advantage to beat Unionville Milliken 3-1; the Azzurri have now won three in a row and are making up ground on the top of the table. Elsewhere, Windsor City picked up their first point since April with a 1-1 tie with ProStars.

Our final Women’s Premier Division game of the weekend was a five-goal thriller that favoured Blue Devils. The Oakville side took the lead twice with BVB IA Waterloo finding a reply each time, until Stefanie Young’s second goal of the game gave her side all the points.

Despite being in 13th place, the Blue Devils are now just three points behind a playoff spot.

Blue devils players hug each other after victory

Blue Devils showed plenty of fight to win their third game of the season