Two games, two draws for our teams on Sunday
It was a tale of two games, two draws, but different consequences for our teams on Sunday, both against the same opponent, Burlington SC.
The men were away from home, and returned with a valuable 1-1 draw that sees us hold on to third place, with 5 games remaining in the regular season.
The women played at Centennial Bowl for the last time this year, and also drew 1-1, but see themselves out of the playoff race and still needing external help in the fight for the 2024 Premier Division.
Guelph United played a tough away match in Burlington, against an opponent who desperately needed a win to stay alive with realistic chances in a very complicated playoff race. And it was our team who scored first, Colin Gander converting a penalty kick after a handball in the box. Burlington came back in the second half and tied the game in the 67th minute, with neither team able to obtain the valuable 3 points.
The result sees our team hold on to the 3rd place in the standings, but the playoff fight is still intense. If Scrosoppi FC seems to have distanced itself slightly at the top, there are 8 teams separated by only 6 points for the next 5 playoff spots. Next weekend sees our month-long road trip come to an end, with a blockbuster match in Barrie, against Simcoe County Rovers, one of those 8 teams who are chasing the playoffs.
Meanwhile, for our women’s team, the home match against Burlington was a great chance to take a solid hold of that 10th place in the combined 2022-23 standings, which will form the divisions from next year, when League1 Ontario splits into tiers. Unfortunately, the Union also managed only a 1-1 draw. Our guests scored first, but Victoria Hinchliffe converted a penalty kick to bring our team a point which keeps us alive in the fight for Premier Division status.
Fortunately, our main opponents for that 10th spot, Blue Devils FC, surprisingly lost to London FC, so we are now 0.25 points ahead. Blue Devils, however, has 2 more games to play, so the math is simple: we need the Blue Devils to not obtain more than 3 points from their remaining games, and then we need to get the win at Alliance United next weekend.