Guelph United F.C. are in the history books.
The men’s semi-pro soccer club became the first team in League1 Ontario history to win the title in its first season after beating the Blue Devils F.C. 3-1 on Nov. 7.
Associate head coach and general manager Keith Mason said he’s so proud of what they’ve accomplished this year.
“It feels absolutely amazing,” Mason said.
“There’s been a lot of hard work going into the last 12 months and we certainly had a goal of playing a good, competitive team but to go all the way and be champions is just unbelievable.”
Mason said the match was a tough game that they handled excellently.
The final saw the two teams meet in a rubber match after splitting their season series this year. Jace Kotsopoulos scored two goals for Guelph, including a penalty shot, and Tomasz Skublak added one as well.
After their historic win, Guelph will now play in the 2022 Voyageurs Cup. They’ll go up against some of the top professional clubs from multiple leagues, including Major League Soccer.
Mason said they feel confident heading into the competition.
“It’s definitely going to be exciting. We’re under no illusions – Toronto F.C. is a well-established, professional club (playing) in the highest league in North America for soccer,” he said.
“We know we’re the underdogs.”
“We know it’s going to be a difficult battle but at the same time we’ve got four, five players in our roster, currently, that have played in the Canadian Premier League.”
In addition to MLS and CPL, Guelph will also compete against teams from the Quebec Premier Soccer League. Mason said the draw for that competition will be next spring.
And as the team stitches their first star over their crest, Mason said they have more goals to accomplish.
He said they want to build off this victory.
“We’ve managed to be champions in League1 Ontario and we want to set up a dynasty and a legacy of League1 championships here, as we build towards something bigger and better,” he said.
“Our goal would be to get in the Canadian Premier League. We would love to be an expansion team in that fully-fledged professional league.”
He said they want to give the youth in Guelph something to strive for and come watch a brand of soccer that they can be proud of.
He believes they’ve taken a great first step this season.
Guelph ended the year with a 10-2 record and finished first in the men’s west division.
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