It took until their final 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 first 12 league games before finally tasting defeat. That first 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 finished strong, going 6-1-1 in its last eight games to finish 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 finish 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 five 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 confidence in the group from our first 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 first. 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 finale. Leading scorer Filipe Vilela was forced to sit out the game (accumulation of cards) but still finished 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 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.