Union surprises Alliance to keep spot in Premier Division
TORONTO – Guelph Union will stay in League1 Ontario Women’s Premier soccer division next year when the division splits into two for the start of relegation/promotion play.
Union grabbed the 10th and final spot in the top division Saturday with a 1-0 win over Alliance United FC at Varsity Stadium.
Guelph Union 1 Alliance United FC 0
Victoria Hinchliffe’s goal in the second half was the lone goal of the game.
Christina Alexander picked up her first shutout of the season in her fourth outing in the Union net.
Hinchliffe, who sat out last season recovering from surgery, scored her 10th goal of the season and her fourth in as many games.
Top 10 teams in the 19-team league stay in the Premier Division with points collected in both this year and last year are taken into consideration. This year’s points are worth 100 percent in the relegation/promotion standings while the 2022 points are worth 75 percent.
Saturday’s win leaves Union with 24 points, the same amount they had last year. That gives them 42 in the relegation/promotion standings and no team behind them can catch them. Only four of the nine teams behind Union have a game left in their seasons. St. Catharines Roma has a postponed game against Burlington SC to play, but a win by St. Catharines, 12th in the relegation/promotion standings, would still leave them 2.25 points behind Union.
Blue Devils FC of Oakville are 11th in the relegation/promotion standings, 3.75 points behind Union, and have finished their regular season.
Union is operated by the Guelph United Football Club which obtained the squad from Guelph Soccer who ran the team its first two seasons late in the off-season after a few players switched teams when it looked as if Union wouldn’t field a squad this season.
Staying in the top division didn’t seem likely at the beginning of the month, but Union completed their season with a four-game undefeated streak with three wins and a tie.
Union finishes this season in a three-way tie for 10th with BVB IA Waterloo and the Blue Devils, all three with identical 7-8-3 records.
Alliance is fourth at 10-3-5 and could fall to fifth as Woodbridge Strikers (10-3-4) have a game to play against second-place Vaughan Azzurri (13-2-2) Sunday. Both are assured of participating in the division’s playoffs. Top six qualify for the postseason.
NDC-Ontario has clinched first at 14-1-3 and they’re followed by Vaughan, North Toronto Nitros (12-4-2), Alliance, Woodbridge, FC London (8-4-5), Simcoe County (8-6-4), Electric City FC (8-6-3) and North Mississauga (7-5-6). FC London and Electric City are to play each other in their regular-season finale at Milton’s Bishop Reding Catholic Secondary School Tuesday. Winner gets a playoff berth. If they tie, London gets the playoff berth.
Teams staying in the Premier Division with Union next year are to be NDC-Ontario, Vaughan, Woodbridge, North Toronto, Alliance, London, Electric City and North Mississauga.
While the teams played each other once this year for an 18-game regular season, they’ll play each other twice (once at home, once on the road) next season. Length of the regular season will stay at 18 games per team.
- Guelph Sports Journal
Union surprises Alliance to keep spot in Premier Division
TORONTO – Guelph Union will stay in League1 Ontario Women’s Premier soccer division next year when the division splits into two for the start of relegation/promotion play.
Union grabbed the 10th and final spot in the top division Saturday with a 1-0 win over Alliance United FC at Varsity Stadium.
Guelph Union 1
Alliance United FC 0
Victoria Hinchliffe’s goal in the second half was the lone goal of the game.
Christina Alexander picked up her first shutout of the season in her fourth outing in the Union net.
Hinchliffe, who sat out last season recovering from surgery, scored her 10th goal of the season and her fourth in as many games.
Top 10 teams in the 19-team league stay in the Premier Division with points collected in both this year and last year are taken into consideration. This year’s points are worth 100 percent in the relegation/promotion standings while the 2022 points are worth 75 percent.
Saturday’s win leaves Union with 24 points, the same amount they had last year. That gives them 42 in the relegation/promotion standings and no team behind them can catch them. Only four of the nine teams behind Union have a game left in their seasons. St. Catharines Roma has a postponed game against Burlington SC to play, but a win by St. Catharines, 12th in the relegation/promotion standings, would still leave them 2.25 points behind Union.
Blue Devils FC of Oakville are 11th in the relegation/promotion standings, 3.75 points behind Union, and have finished their regular season.
Union is operated by the Guelph United Football Club which obtained the squad from Guelph Soccer who ran the team its first two seasons late in the off-season after a few players switched teams when it looked as if Union wouldn’t field a squad this season.
Staying in the top division didn’t seem likely at the beginning of the month, but Union completed their season with a four-game undefeated streak with three wins and a tie.
Union finishes this season in a three-way tie for 10th with BVB IA Waterloo and the Blue Devils, all three with identical 7-8-3 records.
Alliance is fourth at 10-3-5 and could fall to fifth as Woodbridge Strikers (10-3-4) have a game to play against second-place Vaughan Azzurri (13-2-2) Sunday. Both are assured of participating in the division’s playoffs. Top six qualify for the postseason.
NDC-Ontario has clinched first at 14-1-3 and they’re followed by Vaughan, North Toronto Nitros (12-4-2), Alliance, Woodbridge, FC London (8-4-5), Simcoe County (8-6-4), Electric City FC (8-6-3) and North Mississauga (7-5-6). FC London and Electric City are to play each other in their regular-season finale at Milton’s Bishop Reding Catholic Secondary School Tuesday. Winner gets a playoff berth. If they tie, London gets the playoff berth.
Teams staying in the Premier Division with Union next year are to be NDC-Ontario, Vaughan, Woodbridge, North Toronto, Alliance, London, Electric City and North Mississauga.
While the teams played each other once this year for an 18-game regular season, they’ll play each other twice (once at home, once on the road) next season. Length of the regular season will stay at 18 games per team.
- Guelph Sports Journal