Woodbridge Strikers

Woodbridge Strikers Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Woodbridge, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014.^[1] The team plays home games at Vaughan Grove Park.^[2]

Woodbridge Strikers

Full name	Woodbridge Strikers Soccer Club
Founded	1976 / 2014
Stadium	Vaughan Grove Park
Head Coach	Peter Pinizzotto (men) David Porco (women)
League	League1 Ontario
2022	League, 11th; Playoffs, DNQ (men) League, 3rd; Playoffs, QF (women)
Website	Club website
Current season

The club was one of the ten original founding men's teams in League1 Ontario, which was established in 2014, as well as one of eight original founding teams in the League1 Ontario women's division, which was established in 2015.

History

The club's history dates back to 1972, when the East Woodbridge Soccer Club and West Woodbridge Soccer Club were created to serve the Woodbridge Community. In 1976, these two clubs merged to form Woodbridge Soccer Club.^[3]

In 2014, the semi-professional club was established to play in the newly formed League1 Ontario as one of the founding members.^[4][5]

Woodbridge played their first match on June 1, 2014 against ANB Futbol, which they won 2–1.^[6] They finished in second place in the league in each of their first two seasons.^[7]

In 2015, Woodbridge won the League1 Ontario League Cup, defeating Sigma FC 2–1 in the finals.^[8] They repeated as champions in the 2017 League1 Ontario League Cup with a 3–1 victory over Vaughan Azzurri in the finals.^[9] They lost in the 2017 League1 Championship final to the Oakville Blue Devils in a penalty shoot-out,^[10] narrowly missing out on the opportunity to represent the league in the 2018 Canadian Championship as a result.^[11] They again lost in the 2018 Playoff Final, this time against Vaughan Azzurri, missing out on the Canadian Championship for the second consecutive year.^[12]

They added a women's club to participate in the inaugural season of the League1 Ontario women's division in 2015.^[13] In their debut season, they finished second in the league.^[7] In 2018, the women won their first trophy, capturing the League Cup.^[14] In 2021, the women captured their first League1 Championship, defeating Blue Devils FC 1-0 in the finals.^[15]

Coaching staff

^[16]

• Head coach – Peter Pinizzotto
• Boys technical director – Marco Reda
• Technical advisor – Paul Stalteri
• Goalkeeping coach – Roberto Stillo

Squad

As of 16 April 2023^[17]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK   SCO Brandon Kerr — GK   CAN Alexander Pothermont — DF   CAN Gianluca Condello — DF   CAN Sean Costa — DF   CAN Franco Di Giovanni — DF   CAN Isaiah Noel — DF   CAN Luca Pinto — DF   CAN John Paul Riquelme — DF   CAN Luka Vasic — MF   CAN Anthony Barrese — MF   CAN Justin Cicchillo — MF   CAN Domenico Futia

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   CAN Michael Mancuso — MF   CAN Jacob McDonald — MF   CAN Ignazio Muccilli — MF   CAN Dante Pavan — MF   PAK Navid Rahman — MF   CAN Jacob Rodrigues — MF   CAN Jacob Spizzirri — FW   CAN Uday Arora — FW   CAN Khubaib Mahboubullah — FW   CAN Ronaldo Marshall — FW   CAN Paolo Migotto — FW   CAN Ryley Wishart —   CAN Owen DaSilva

Seasons

Men

Season	League	Teams	Record	Rank	Playoffs	League Cup	Ref
2014	League1 Ontario	9	10–3–3	2nd	–	Group stage	^[18]
2015		12	15–2–5	2nd	–	Champions	^[18]
2016		16	15–2–5	2nd, Eastern (2nd overall)	did not qualify	Runner-up	^[18]
2017		16	15–5–2	1st, Eastern (3rd overall)	Runner-up	Champions	^[18]
2018		17	8–4–4	6th	Runner-up	Quarter-finals	^[18]
2019		16	8–1–6	8th	Quarter-finals	–	^[18]
2020		Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic^[19]
2021		15	6–1–5	3rd, East (7th overall)	did not qualify	–	^[18]
2022		22	8–5–8	11th	did not qualify	–
2023		21	6–8–6	12th	did not qualify	–

Women

Season	League	Teams	Record	Rank	Playoffs	League Cup	Ref
2015	League1 Ontario	7	13–2–3	2nd	–	Semi-finals	^[20]
2016		9	11–3–2	2nd	–	Finalists	^[20]
2017		11	9–2–9	7th	–	Finalists	^[20]
2018		13	9–3–0	2nd	Finalists	Champions	^[20]
2019		14	7–1–5	4th	Semi-finals	–	^[20]
2020		Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic^[19]
2021		7	6–3–3	2nd	Champions	–	^[20]
2022		20	12–6–1	3rd	Quarter-finals	–
2023		19	10–4–4	5th	Quarter-finals	–

Notable former players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before or after playing for the League1 Ontario team:

Men

•   Stephen Afrifa
•   Dylan Carreiro
•   Oscar Cordon
•   Nathan Dossantos
•   Giuliano Frano
•   Andrés Fresenga
•   Victor Gallo
•   Isaiah Johnston
•   Marcos Nunes
•   Navid Rahman
•    Tyrell Rayne
•    Quillan Roberts
•   Tarik Robertson
•   Roberto Stillo
•   Julian Uccello
•    Davier Walcott
•   Armaan Wilson
•   Lowell Wright

Women

•    Kira Bertrand
•    Kylee Bertrand
•    Calaigh Copland
•    Chanel Hudson-Marks
•    Jayda Hylton-Pelaia
•    Nicole Kozlova
•   Alyscha Mottershead
•   Christabel Oduro
•   Diamond Simpson

Honours

• L1O Cup (1): 2015, 2017

References

1. Hayakawa, Michael (April 10, 2014). "Vaughan to field 2 teams in inaugural soccer league". Vaughan Citizen. from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
2. Kelly, Tim (April 14, 2014). "Soccer season in Vaughan a sure sign of spring". Vaughan Citizen. from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
3. "History of WSC". Woodbridge SC. from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
4. . Canadian Soccer Association. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on July 4, 2020.
5. . Ontario Soccer Association. April 8, 2014. Archived from the original on May 18, 2014.
6. Kelly, Tim (May 29, 2014). "New soccer club in King Township fills gap for rising stars". King Connection. from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
7. "A Bluffer's Guide to Woodbridge Strikers". League1 Ontario. July 7, 2022. from the original on August 18, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
8. "Woodbridge Strikers Hold On to win League1 Ontario Men's L1O Cup". Ontario Soccer Association. August 9, 2015. from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
9. "L1 Cup 2017 Champions crowned". Vaughan Citizen. August 8, 2017. from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
10. Cudmore, John (October 22, 2017). "League1 Soccer: Oakville Blue Devils top Woodbridge Strikers in kicks". Vaughan Citizen. from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
11. Davidson, Neil (June 5, 2018). "Oakville Blue Devils look to impress in first Canadian soccer championship appearance". Toronto Star. from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
12. Baldwin, Dan (October 23, 2019). "L1O Final: Azzurri give Woodbridge the Blues". Northern Starting XI. from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
13. Rowaan, Dave (January 29, 2015). "League 1 Ontario announces expansion teams for 2015 season". Waking The Red. from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
14. "Top 2018 Performers Recognized At Year-End Awards Gala". League1 Ontario. November 26, 2018. from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
15. Cheng, Jonathan (November 7, 2021). "Woodbridge wins 2021 L1O Women's title in 1-0 result over Blue Devils". League1 Ontario. from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved March 22, 2023.
16. "WSC Technical Staff". Woodbridge SC. from the original on July 7, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2020.
17. "Woolbridge Strikers". League 1 Ontario.
18. "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Men's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives. from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
19. "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League. September 4, 2020. from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
20. "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Women's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives. from the original on October 21, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.

External links