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Read about the nail-biting title race in the top-flight of League1 Ontario’s men’s competition, and how Scrosoppi’s shootout success saw them thrive in the cup.

Woodbridge win nail-biting title race

Woodbridge strikers stepped it up and secured this year’s Men’s Premier Division title by two points after a thrilling season-long battle with Scrosoppi.

Woodbridge’s 2024 season was far from a disaster; third place in the league was a big improvement from the year before, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Sixteen points off the top left them just as close to relegation as it did to the champions, meaning they needed to raise their game even more to challenge for this year’s crown.

The strikers lived up to their name with the top two goalscorers of the season: Ronaldo Marshall leading the way with 13 goals and picking up where he left off from last season and Anthony Morano, the 19-year-old prodigy from York University, just behind with 12 of his strikes finding the back of the net.

The offence was not the only area that improved: defensively, 10 clean sheets in 20 games and only 18 goals conceded all season propelled a prolific team to new heights.

Woodbridge started the season well, going eight games in before being defeated by an injury-time winner away to St Catharines Roma Wolves.

Instead of spiralling, this only added fuel to the fire for Woodbridge as they went on to take 19 points out of a possible 21 in their next seven games, setting them up to be six points clear with only four matches remaining.

The next game was the worst of the season, a 4-0 loss to Vaughan Azzurri and a red card for Luca Pinto (followed by a cup exit at the hands of the same opponents) leaving only a three-point gap and doubt heading into the last three games.

The first chance to secure silverware came in the penultimate match as the two title protagonists faced off at the St Francis Xavier Stadium, home of the reigning champions, Scrosoppi.

With only six points left on the table and a gap of five points between the two sides, Scrosoppi needed to take victory to stay in the fight, and what followed was a 4-3 thriller to bring the gap down to two points heading into the final game of the season.

The holders would play first, and they made no mistake as they thrashed North Toronto 8-0 to put the pressure on the Strikers, who would travel away to bottom side FC London.

A single point would have been enough to take the trophy for Woodbridge, but goals from Anthony Khananisho and Anthony Morano saw them win comfortably and erupt in elation as they secured their first Men’s Premier Division title since their introduction to League1 Ontario in 2014.

The success continued into the postseason as Woodbridge’s individual stars took home the MVP, Coach of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Defender of the Year, Midfielder of the Year and the Golden Boot in the league’s 2025 honours.

If the Strikers can pick their form up again next April, then they are sure to be challenging in 2026.

Scrosoppi’s season recovery ended in silverware

It would be unjust for Scrosoppi to be disappointed with second in the Men’s Premier and first in the L1 Cup, but the club will certainly look back at the season and think how close they were to winning their second regular-season title on the bounce and completing the league and cup double.

All seemed well to start with as two wins opened their campaign, before slumping to only seven points in their next six games, including losses to Alliance United, Vaughan Azzurri, and St Catharines Roma Wolves.

However, they showed their excellence through the middle section of the season and took 21 points in their next nine games, bringing them right back into the fight, with Woodbridge being only three points ahead with three games to go.

Cyrus Rollocks’ injury-time equalizer for North Toronto on August 9 meant Scrosoppi picked up seven points from a possible nine, and it wasn’t enough to take the title in the home stretch.

August did however reap reward in the L1 Cup.

Their cup run began strongly back in June with a commanding 3-0 win as they faced off against Championship side Windsor City.

Their next opponents, North Toronto, would prove to be much tougher company as they came back from a two-goal deficit at the half to take the game to penalties. Rollocks again haunted his former side with a brace before Bilal Abou Reslan equalized in injury time to level the scores.

Neither side missed in their opening five, and the first and only mistake would be the sixth penalty for the North Toronto when Sufyan Fraj’s effort was struck wide right, sending the eventual champions through.

Another penalty shootout was needed in the semifinal against Simcoe County Rovers, who took the lead at the end of the first half before Miles Green levelled the score with 21 minutes left.

Once again, John Yacou’s side were perfect from the spot as they scored all five and progressed through to the final, where they would face Vaughan Azzurri.

Miles Green opened the scoring early, and Luka Juricic doubled the lead in the early stages of the second half. Azurri looked to change their fortunes with a quadruple change on the hour mark, and 10 minutes later Marco Sciortino tapped the ball into an open net to set up a nervy climax.

The result was put to bed in the fourth minute of injury time when Tomasz Skublak skipped past the goalkeeper before squaring the ball for Juricic to pass it into the welcoming arms of the open net.

The whistle blew minutes later, and Scrosoppi were crowned the 2025 Men’s L1 Cup champions, to add another trophy to their growing collection.