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With 2025 coming to an end, we’re looking at how the eventual League2 Division champions saw off their opponents to lift the third-tier titles.

Strikers lived up to their name

Woodbridge Strikers’ women’s second team put on plenty of dominant displays in 2025 as they finished top of the Northeast Conference and won the postseason playoff to be crowned Women’s League2 Division champions.

It was seventh heaven for Strikers on the season’s opening day as they began their campaign with a 7-0 win over Unionville Milliken. Sabrina Bisante had a match to remember after finding the net five times, firing her side to the top of the conference in the first match week.

May then followed, and it was a month of expert finishing and dominant displays from Woodbridge, who beat Pickering 4-1, scored another four goals to beat Sudbury Cyclones 4-0, and recorded 2-0 victories against Whitby and Pickering again.

Their first defeat of the season came at the hands of Alliance United, but head coach Mike Stalteri rallied the troops throughout June and they put six past Master’s FA, four past Simcoe County Rovers, and finished the month with a 5-2 triumph at North Toronto.

July was a busy month for the team, but with only one defeat in six games they solidified top spot above Alliance United. The goals were spread across the squad, with Telaijah Folkes netting four times throughout the year, and Akeelah Omokhua, Angelica Bassis, Isabella Castellanos Lopes, and Olivia Pillitteri all scoring three.

With their final league position confirmed, the Strikers headed into a home Playoff Semifinal against Railway City. The visitors took an early lead through Lily Ryder but the hosts hit back and equalized thanks to a Tamara Lisser goal. The first half finished level, but in the 64th minute, Pillitteri scored the all-important goal to set up a Playoff Final between Woodbridge and Waterloo United.

It was another controlled performance from a side that was used to scoring plenty of goals during the regular season, as Bisante scored a brace alongside a goal from Folkes, and an own goal, to give Woodbridge a 4-0 victory and cement them as the best Women’s League2 team of 2025.

Roma Wolves won in playoffs

Although St Catharines Roma Wolves finished as the runners-up in the Men’s Southwest Conference, they held their nerve in the playoffs to make it a victorious 2025.

Their season started slowly in April with no wins in their first two games, but St Catharines’ form soon picked up after they claimed their first win of the year against Hamilton United. A 5-1 victory away from home saw Lucas Done-Burcea, Murt Ali Rizvi, Campbell Hastings, Charlie Franc, and Adrian Arias all find the net after they went 1-0 down early.

They then won eight of their next 10 games and were battling at the top of the standings with Cambridge United in July. A 6-0 defeat to Cambridge on the final day of the season brought St Catharines back down to earth, though, and it meant they would finish second.

Vaughan Azzurri awaited them in the postseason, and it was dramatic from start to finish as the sides tied 3-3 in regular time. A back-and-forth match saw Romero Nicolazzo, Done-Burcea, and Hastings all score to give St Catharines a 3-1 lead in the second half, but after Francesco Panetta got one back with 38 minutes remaining the pressure was on for the Roma Wolves’ defence.

Panetta scored his second of the game in the very last minute with a composed finish from the penalty spot, but it was St Catharines who had the last laugh on penalties as Nicolazzo scored the all-important spot-kick to seal their place in the final.

Their opponents were familiar foes and they were hunting revenge against Cambridge United, who had put them to the sword the last time they met. This time it was St Catharines’ day, though, and Nicolazzo continued his goalscoring form to net twice in a 2-1 win to put the icing on the cake for the Roma Wolves.