Canadian soccer team Football club
 | |
| Full name | Unionville Milliken Soccer Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | UMSC Strikers |
| Founded | 1976 |
| Stadium | Ontario Soccer Centre |
| Head Coach | Filipe Bento (men) Paul Omoghan (women) |
| League | League1 Ontario |
| 2024 | L1O-C, 4th (men) L1O-C, 6th (women) |
| Website | https://www.u-msc.com/ |
 Current season | |
Unionville Milliken Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Unionville, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its women's and men's semi-professional teams in League1 Ontario in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
History
The club was founded in 1976 to serve the communities of Unionville and Milliken in Ontario.
Originally a youth soccer club, the team added semi-professional teams in League1 Ontario in the women's division in 2017, followed by a men's team in 2018. In their inaugural season, the women's team finished in 4th place. Unionville announced that their club would go with a fully professional model, as opposed to an amateur or semi-professional approach, becoming the second fully professional team in the league, after Toronto FC III.
The men's team was formed through a partnership with York Region Shooters, who played in the Canadian Soccer League until 2017, to form a professional club in L1O to begin in 2018, created through the relationship of Shooters' owner Tony De Thomasis and UMSC coach Filipe Bento. They played their inaugural match on April 29, 2018 against Windsor TFC, which resulted in a 3–1 victory. In 2022, the women's reserve team won the League1 Ontario Reserve Division.
Seasons
Men
| Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | League Cup | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | League1 Ontario | 17 | 6–5–5 | 8th | Group stage | Round of 16 | |
| 2019 | 16 | 3–3–9 | 12th | Did not qualify | – | ||
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||
| 2021 | 15 | 5–2–5 | 4th, East (8th overall) | Did not qualify | – | ||
| 2022 | 22 | 4–2–15 | 20th | Did not qualify | – | ||
| 2023 | 21 | 1–1–18 | 20th | Did not qualify | – | ||
| 2024 | League1 Ontario Championship | 10 | 9–3–6 | 4th | – | Round of 32 | |
Women
| Season | League | Teams | Record | Rank | Playoffs | League Cup | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | League1 Ontario | 11 | 10–3–7 | 4th | – | Quarter-finals | |
| 2018 | 13 | 5–3–4 | 8th | Did not qualify | Finalists | ||
| 2019 | 14 | 5–5–4 | 11th | Did not qualify | – | ||
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||
| 2021 | League1 Ontario Summer Championship | 7 | 2–1–3 | 5th | – | – | |
| 2022 | League1 Ontario | 20 | 7–1–10 | 14th | Did not qualify | – | |
| 2023 | 19 | 7–0–11 | 13th | Did not qualify | – | ||
| 2024 | League1 Ontario Championship | 10 | 6–6–6 | 6th | – | Round of 32 | |
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
George Akpabio
Ezequiel Carrasco- Joseph Di Chiara
Kiril Dimitrov
Richard Edwards- Trivine Esprit
- Duwayne Ewart
- Taylor Lord
- Cale Loughrey
Rohan Ricketts
Alain Sargeant- John Smits
- Jordan Webb
- Richard West
Bojan Zoranović
Women
- Samantha Chang
Calaigh Copland- Kennedy Faulknor
- Julia Gonsalves
- Olivia Gonsalves
- Jade Rose
- Jade Vyfhuis
References
- Cudmore, John (December 21, 2017). "League1 expansion focus zooms in on Unionville, Markham entries". Markham Economist & Sun.
- Cudmore, John (May 2, 2017). "Aurora, Unionville-Milliken women kick off League1 season". Aurora Banner.
- "About UMSC". Unionville Milliken SC.
- "Significant expansion planned for League1 Ontario". League1 Ontario. December 20, 2017.
- Anstee, James (June 15, 2022). "A Bluffer's Guide to Unionville Milliken". League1 Ontario.
- Baldwin, Dan (April 27, 2018). "League 1 Ontario 2018 Preview". Northern Starting XI.
- "Unionville Milliken Men To Spotlight Pro Model, Community Roots, In Debut Season". League1 Ontario. April 16, 2018.
- Parker, Jim (April 28, 2018). "Windsor TFC soccer team has a new focus this season". Windsor Star.
- "Game 1: Unionville with the Win Over Windsor". Unionville Milliken SC. October 17, 2018.
- "Unionville Milliken and Simcoe County Rovers win reserve titles". League1 Ontario. August 8, 2022.
- ^ "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Men's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
- ^ "League1 Ontario cancels Fall season plans for 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions". Canadian Premier League. September 4, 2020.
- ^ "League1 Ontario Historical Standings Women's Division". Canadian Soccer History Archives.
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| League1 Ontario – Women's Division | |
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