Welcome to the May Update! If you aren’t one of our Patreons, there’s been a lot of shifting since our last update, especially with the kick off of League1 Ontario & PLSQ. Add the conclusion of the CONCACAF Champions League, and you’ve got some moving and shaking. If you are a patreon, thank you for your help, there’s only been a slight shift since Friday morning. Let’s have a look.
In the 2018-only ranking, Vancouver has been deposed by the CONCACAF Champions League Finalists, Toronto FC. As we don’t count penalty kicks in our Elo ratings, Toronto’s final match in Mexico was a great victory that helped them leap back to the top of the list. In contrast, both Vancouver and Montreal have suffered in a few rough matches, sending them back below the midpoint.
In the USL, the young Reds now stand above the Fury, as a result of not losing as badly to other teams. In this particular case, it really is a question of which side loses on better terms, and TFC II seems to have the edge in that particular case. Don’t get me wrong, Toronto is not doing well by anyone’s imagination, but it does seem to be faring better than Ottawa at the moment. Having watch FC Cincinnati stomp Ottawa this weekend, the team is having a lot of trouble adapting to the new coach’s system and they’re definitely paying for it.
This past weekend kicked things off for both the PLSQ and L1O. There was only a single match in Quebec, with AS Blainville downing Dynamo de Quebec 1-0. As a result, AS Blainville rockets up to 11 and Dynamo falls to the bottom of the division. A 1-0 victory, at home, may not seem worthy of shooting above, say, OSU Force’s 3-0 victory on the road, but PLSQ’s season has a heavier weight than L1O as a result of not having any playoffs to rebalance points at the end of the season. For those unaware, PLSQ operates with the traditional single table, most points take all format.
As mentioned previously, OSU sit top of L1O as a result of their 3-0 road victory. They’re followed by Oakville Blue Devils, Unionville Milliken SC, North Mississauga Panthers, and Vaughan Azzurri. I always like to watch the “new guys” in the league. In this case, things were split. The only road team, Unionville Milliken, won 3-1 against Windsor TFC. Darby drew in a very close match against Woodbridge, and Alliance United lost 1-0 to North Mississauga.
In the cumulative ratings, the three MLS and two USL sides remain in the same order. Toronto has pulled further ahead while both Vancouver and Montreal continue to struggle. Ottawa and TFC II continue to drop, with Ottawa Fury now sitting below the league average. It’s been a pretty rough go so far this season for any team that isn’t TFC, but there’s plenty of matches left to help boost those numbers.
In the 3rd division, we see something new. Oakville Blue Devils have overtaken PDL’s WSA Winnipeg as a result of their victory this past weekend (up 2 places). This moves the 2018 Canadian Championship contender in the top-10 clubs according to the cumulative ranking. Vaughan Azzurri now sits in 12th (down 1), and the PLSQ’s AS Blainville is following closely behind in 13th (up 2). Interestingly enough, there was no change for ranks 25 – 35. Teams at the bottom, remained at the bottom, even if they managed a 3-0 road win (OSU Force). Some deficits will require a lot of work to overcome.
The PDL kicks off later this month, which will give WSA Winnipeg a chance to retake 10th in the cumulative rankings. We’ll also see the PCSL kick-off, which after many internal arguments, I’ve decided to include in the rankings moving forward. By the end of May, all Canadian Clubs will be in play for the 2018 season. If you’d like a weekly update on the elo-ratings, consider donating $1/month through Patreon. All proceeds go toward keeping the site running, so it’s definitely for a good cause. Otherwise, I’ll be back with our monthly elo-update in June.