Guelph United to play decisive match for Premier Division spot on September 11th
As part of the new format of League1 Ontario, the team in the second-last place of the Premier Division (unfortunately, Guelph United) will have to play a pro/rel playoff match against the second-place team in the second-tier Championship Division. The winner will book their spot in the top flight, while the loser will play the next season in the Championship.
TFC Academy finished first in the Championship, but they already announced their move to a US-based league for 2025, so second-place FC London gained direct promotion, while third-place St. Catharines Roma Wolves will be our opponent in the decisive matchup.
The game was supposed to take place on Saturday September 14th, on neutral grounds, at the Ontario Soccer Centre. However, with a Guelph Gryphons game the same weekend that would’ve made a large part of our roster unavailable, League1 agreed to move the match to Wednesday September 11th, but with the concession that it will be played in St. Catharines, on the stadium of our opponents.
The match will start at 8 PM, and it is supposed to be streamed live by League1 Ontario. Stay tuned to our social media channels for stream details, as well as for ticketing details for our fans who will want to make the trip to St. Catharines for this decisive game.
Yesterday afternoon, our men’s team ended the regular season at the Centennial Bowl, with an exciting, entertaining 3-3 draw against last year’s champions, Simcoe County Rovers. Despite plenty of absences due to injuries or university commitments, and with many players having appeared in a U-Sports game for Guelph Gryphons just the day before, our team showed plenty of fight and desire in front of a great crowd. Yuki Ibie scored one of our goals of the year, his first for the senior squad, after an impressive individual play. Two defensive mishaps on corner kicks saw Simcoe take the lead, but Jared Agyemang added a couple, to get his total for the year to 12 goals (10 in the league, 2 in the cup). Another corner kick that our defense didn’t clear properly, in the very last play of the game, lead to a game-tying goal which saw our guests escape with a point.
Guelph United - Simcoe County Rovers 3-3 (1-0)
Goals: Ibie (‘32), Agyemang (‘58, ‘85 pen) / Reid (‘48), Benitez (‘50), Herrera (‘90+6)
Yellow cards: D. Sivanesan, Qushair / Reid, Smith.
Guelph United: Arruda - Ferdinand, Fernandez, Obedi (‘62 Bendula), Clack - Cabral (‘89 Andoga), Ostrun, Yates - D. Sivanesan (‘62 Ladhani), Agyemang (‘88 Qushair), Ibie.