United’s playoff hopes bruised with loss to Darby
GUELPH – Oh no. And a double oh no.
Guelph United went into their final game of League1 Ontario Men’s Premier soccer’s regular season knowing they needed a little help to secure a playoff berth and not be the odd man out of the seven teams left in playoff contention. Top six qualify for the playoffs.
Darby FC 2 Guelph United 0
Of course they also had to beat Darby FC of Whitby, one of 15 teams already eliminated from the playoff race.
Well, United did get some help Friday night, but they didn’t do their part as they fell to Darby, a team that entered the game languishing in 15th place in the 22-team loop, as they fell 2-0.
The loss was made worse when news arrived that St. Catharines Roma had edged ProStars FC of Brampton 3-2. If United had won, they would have clinched a playoff berth.
But Darby scored twice in the second half for the victory.
Noah Stapleton connected in the 53rd minute and Andrew Saniga added the final goal 20 minutes later. Matt Zaikos was credited with the clean sheet.
Svyatoslav Artemenko was in net for United.
While the loss hurts, United hasn’t been officially ousted from the playoff race. They’ll have a week to wait to see if that actually does happen with the most crucial game to watch being one next Saturday between the Simcoe County Rovers (8-3-5) and Hamilton United (9-8-1) at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field. The Rovers are in the playoff race, Hamilton United isn’t, but a win by the home side would put Guelph United into the postseason.
Finishing a week earlier than all the other contenders would’ve been a good thing in terms of getting a little rest and a little extra preparation for more play. Finishing a week earlier than all the other playoff contenders isn’t a good thing as you’ve set the mark the others know they have to beat in order to extend their seasons. And it’s certainly not an out-of-reach mark.
Heading into Saturday’s play, Vaughan Azzurri leads at 16-0-3 and is the only team that has clinched a playoff berth. Alliance United FC (12-2-6) of Toronto and Guelph United (13-5-3) are tied for second, Blue Devils FC (12-2-5) of Oakville and Simcoe County are tied for fourth and ProStars (13-6-1) and North Toronto Nitros (12-2-4) are tied for sixth.
While Guelph United has completed their regular season, Alliance, Simcoe County and ProStars each have one game to play, Azzurri and Blue Devils have two to go and North Toronto has three to play.
If they fail to make the playoffs, defending champion United can look at specific games as its downfall – losses to Darby (6-10-4) and Scrosoppi FC (8-10-1) of Milton – as well as their overall play at Alumni Stadium where they went 5-3-3. Those ties – against Electric City FC (8-7-4) in the Peterborough squad’s first ever game, Sigma FC (9-6-4) of Mississauga and Pickering FC (6-12-2) – were also costly.
So, too, was an ever-changing lineup due to injuries and player personnel changes.
Still, United gets a week to see exactly how costly those things were to their dreams of repeating as league champs.
- Guelph Sports Journal
United’s playoff hopes bruised with loss to Darby
GUELPH – Oh no. And a double oh no.
Guelph United went into their final game of League1 Ontario Men’s Premier soccer’s regular season knowing they needed a little help to secure a playoff berth and not be the odd man out of the seven teams left in playoff contention. Top six qualify for the playoffs.
Darby FC 2
Guelph United 0
Of course they also had to beat Darby FC of Whitby, one of 15 teams already eliminated from the playoff race.
Well, United did get some help Friday night, but they didn’t do their part as they fell to Darby, a team that entered the game languishing in 15th place in the 22-team loop, as they fell 2-0.
The loss was made worse when news arrived that St. Catharines Roma had edged ProStars FC of Brampton 3-2. If United had won, they would have clinched a playoff berth.
But Darby scored twice in the second half for the victory.
Noah Stapleton connected in the 53rd minute and Andrew Saniga added the final goal 20 minutes later. Matt Zaikos was credited with the clean sheet.
Svyatoslav Artemenko was in net for United.
While the loss hurts, United hasn’t been officially ousted from the playoff race. They’ll have a week to wait to see if that actually does happen with the most crucial game to watch being one next Saturday between the Simcoe County Rovers (8-3-5) and Hamilton United (9-8-1) at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field. The Rovers are in the playoff race, Hamilton United isn’t, but a win by the home side would put Guelph United into the postseason.
Finishing a week earlier than all the other contenders would’ve been a good thing in terms of getting a little rest and a little extra preparation for more play. Finishing a week earlier than all the other playoff contenders isn’t a good thing as you’ve set the mark the others know they have to beat in order to extend their seasons. And it’s certainly not an out-of-reach mark.
Heading into Saturday’s play, Vaughan Azzurri leads at 16-0-3 and is the only team that has clinched a playoff berth. Alliance United FC (12-2-6) of Toronto and Guelph United (13-5-3) are tied for second, Blue Devils FC (12-2-5) of Oakville and Simcoe County are tied for fourth and ProStars (13-6-1) and North Toronto Nitros (12-2-4) are tied for sixth.
While Guelph United has completed their regular season, Alliance, Simcoe County and ProStars each have one game to play, Azzurri and Blue Devils have two to go and North Toronto has three to play.
If they fail to make the playoffs, defending champion United can look at specific games as its downfall – losses to Darby (6-10-4) and Scrosoppi FC (8-10-1) of Milton – as well as their overall play at Alumni Stadium where they went 5-3-3. Those ties – against Electric City FC (8-7-4) in the Peterborough squad’s first ever game, Sigma FC (9-6-4) of Mississauga and Pickering FC (6-12-2) – were also costly.
So, too, was an ever-changing lineup due to injuries and player personnel changes.
Still, United gets a week to see exactly how costly those things were to their dreams of repeating as league champs.
- Guelph Sports Journal