Guelph United battles Burlington SC to deadlock

GUELPH – A goal five minutes into the match helped Guelph United battle a 1-1 deadlock with Burlington SC in League1 Ontario Men’s Premier soccer play Sunday at Burlington’s Corpus Christi Catholic Secondary School.

Colin Gander connected for the goal for United.

Burlington came back to knot the score on a goal by Augustus Oku.

The tie lifts United into third place in the 21-team league’s standings with a 9-2-4 record.

United is assured of staying in the Premier Division next year when the division splits for the beginning of promotion/relegation play. Top 12 teams stay in the Premier Division while the bottom nine will go into a second division. Any expansion teams join the second division.

With five games to go, United is aiming to stay in the top six and gain a berth in the division’s playoffs.

Scrosoppi FC of Milton leads the division at 12-2-0 and are followed by the Blue Devils of Oakville at 10-2-3, Guelph United, Electric City FC of Peterborough at 9-3-3, Vaughan Azzurri at 9-2-2 and North Toronto Nitros at 9-4-2.

Still mathematically in the race for a playoff berth are the Simcoe County Rovers (9-4-1), Alliance United FC (8-3-4), Burlington SC (8-5-3), Sigma FC (7-4-3), Woodbridge Strikers (6-5-5), ProStars FC (5-6-4), Hamilton United (5-6-3), Windsor City FC (5-8-1), FC London (3-6-5) and St. Catharines Roma (3-9-2).

Five teams already know they won’t be participating in the playoffs.

Next up for United is a game against the Simcoe County Rovers at J.C. Massie Field on the Georgian College campus in Barrie Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

Of the four regular-season games after that, three are to be played at Centennial Bowl – Aug. 1 against Hamilton United at 8 p.m., Aug. 13 against Woodbridge Strikers at 5:30 p.m. and Aug. 20 against ProStars at 5:30 p.m.

They’re also to play Electric City at Peterborough’s Fleming College Field Aug. 5 at 2 p.m.

• Guelph Sports Journal