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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, October 8, 2015 | 40 Jon Kuiperij Sports Editor sports@oakvillebeaver.com Sports "Connected to your Community" Blue Devils champions in rst League1 season It took until their nal game, a 2-0 win Saturday in Brampton over host ProStars FC, for the Oakville Blue Devils to clinch the League1 Ontario men's soccer championship. To Blue Devils head coach Duncan Wilde, however, much of the league title was earned before the team even began its inaugural season in early May. "We sat down and evaluated how we saw it going, what the requirements would be, and we got it right," Wilde said of preparation for the 2015 campaign. "We had to recruit a powerful squad, one that what we thought at the outset was as close to a (Premier Development League) squad as we could... That really set the foundation." Wilde saw the writing on the wall. By mid-season, many teams in the league would lose players who had to return to their university and college teams, both in Canada and the United States. A fast start was critical. That's what the Blue Devils delivered, going undefeated in their rst 12 league games before nally tasting defeat. That rst loss, a 1-0 decision against the Woodbridge Strikers, was followed by another 1-0 loss, this time at the hands of the Vaughan Azzurri. But Oakville nished strong, going 6-1-1 in its last eight games to nish the season with a win-loss-draw record of 17-3-2. The Blue Devils' 53 points ranks them seven ahead of second-place Woodbridge, which has one game remaining but can nish with a maximum of 49 points. "(The middle of the season) was the one part that gave us big concern," said Wilde, whose team lost ve players to NCAA schools -- including three league all-stars -- in the span of one week. Anthony Doran and captain Taylor McNamara also suffered injuries near the midpoint of the campaign, and the team had to play several games without regulars due to suspensions. "But having the con dence in the group from our rst half of the season gave us an advantage that we needed to see us through that period. We had that cushion; we'd lost a couple of games but were still rst. We were always the team to catch. I always prefer being in that position, instead of the chaser." Doran and Tyler Wason, both former Oakville Soccer Club players, scored for the Blue Devils in Saturday's League1 season nale. Leading scorer Filipe Vilela was forced to sit out the game (accumulation of cards) but still nished the year tied for the league lead in goals with 20. Wilde also credited the steady play of left back Al James ("I can't Oakville Blue Devils players celebrate after winning the League1 Ontario men's soccer championship Saturday in Brampton. | photo submitted remember him being beaten on the outside all season," Wilde said) and Anthony Novak (who left the team midseason to return to Lake Erie College) as keys to the Blue Devils' success. Perhaps the only disappointment of the Blue Devils' season was being eliminated early in the League1 Cup playdowns. Oakville won its rst game of the tournament before a 2-0 loss to ANB Futbol -- when Wilde estimates his team outshot its opponent 22-3 -- ousted the Blue Devils on goal differential. The Blue Devils' rst season in League1 was successful off the eld as well, Wilde said. The team regularly attracted crowds of 300plus to Sheridan College, and Wilde feels Oakville offers fans the best game-day experience in the league. "We're fundraising like mad," Wilde added. "It's not cheap to play in this league. We're very much still looking for local sponsors, especially because we'd like to open a League1 women's club as well." The Blue Devils aren't quite through with their 2015 season yet. They'll take on the champion of the PDLQ (Première Ligue de soccer du Québec) in a two-game aggregate series. Oakville will likely host the opener Nov. 1 at Sheridan, with the series concluding in Quebec two weeks later. -- Jon Kuiperij 2015 Oakville Blue Devils Karman Saini Adam Gould Nick Muth Chris Mitchell Macca Wilde Gary Gif n Filipe Vilela Judah Hernandez Tyler Wason Tevin Wynter Christian Kusiewicz Taylor McNamara Anthony Doran Khody Ellis Brandon Duarte Christian Young Hitesh Joshi Al James Roman Young Daniel Voci Mbeki Johnson Eric Crawford Chris Kara lov Bradon Culver Anthony Novak Max Hathaway Eduardo Filice Adrian Butters STAFF Duncan Wilde Billy Steele Brett Mosen Glenn McNamara Kim Ashton Dr. Robert Gringmuth Blades get back on track with pair of comeback victories The Oakville Blades won a pair of games in dramatic fashion last weekend to move above the .500 mark for the rst time since opening day of the Ontario Junior Hockey League season. Oakville scored ve times in the last 11 minutes of its game Saturday against the host Toronto Patriots, turning a 5-2 de cit into a 7-5 victory. The previous evening, Drew Worrad scored the tying goal with ve minutes left in regulation, then provided the overtime winner in a 4-3 Oakville triumph over the North York Rangers at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Worrad's OT marker Friday completed a hat trick for the forward, whose other goal tied the game 1-1 in the rst period. Ryan Garvey also tallied for the Blades, and Brendan McGlynn made 28 saves to record his third straight win in net. Worrad also kick-started the Blades' comeback Saturday, scoring twice in the third period. Jackson Bales tied the game with less than four minutes remaining, Josh Kosack scored with 1:38 left to put the Blades ahead, and Tyler Rollo provided an insurance goal into the empty net. Rollo and Christian Rajic scored earlier in the game for Oakville and Michael Botiz was the winning goaltender, stopping 33 of 38 shots. The Blades (5-4-1-1) will host a pair of games this weekend, welcoming the St. Michael's Buzzers tomorrow (Friday) and Lindsay Muskies Saturday. Both contests will start at 7:30 p.m. at Sixteen Mile Sports Complex. Oakville will conclude a three-game weekend slate Sunday with a visit to the Toronto Jr. Canadiens. Drew Worrad scored ve goals in two games, including the overtime winner Friday, to lead the Oakville Blades to a pair of victories last weekend. | photo by Kevin Sousa -- OJHL Images