September 18, 2021- After a year hiatus from Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) action, the Niagara Knights Men's and Women's Soccer teams will take the pitch for the first time since 2019 thanks to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The Knights will start their season on the road with their season opener on Saturday, September 18th at Redeemer University.
With the reintroduction of varsity programming for Fall 2021, the OCAA introduced new formatting of four regional divisions instead of the traditional East-West to reduce the amount of travel across the province. Niagara College will compete in the South Division with Sheridan, Mohawk and Redeemer. Each team will play each other twice (home and away) with the OCAA Championship scheduled for October 29-30th.
Women's Soccer
The Knights women will be vying for another shot at the OCAA Championship, after falling short at the 2019 tournament to the Fanshawe Falcons in the quarter-final. South Division Head Coach of the Year, Rob Lalama, is back for his fourth season at the helm of the women's bench. This off-season Lalama welcomed former NCAA player and Niagara local, Kara Ross as an assistant coach, while Gary Condon and Gerry D'Angelo will enter their 10th and 8th year respectively.
The women have four returning players from their 2019 roster including recently named team captain, Terin Hultink. While the majority of Lalama's 2021 squad are freshman, a few were inked to play in the 2020-2021 season and will instead make their debut this September. Niagara also welcomed Brock University transfer, Sydney Sica, who was also named a team captain with Hultink.
Lalama and the Knights will look to improve on their 2019-2020 season record of 5-2-2.
Men's Soccer
On the men's side, the Knights will be looking to improve on their 2019-2020 season where they managed a 3-6 record during the regular season. After defeating Redeemer 5-0 to advance to the cross-over game at Algonquin College, the Knights saw their season end with a thrilling 3-1 loss to the first-place Thunder in the East Division.
Head coach, Frank DeChellis, is back for his 11th season at the helm while long-time assistant coach Rino Berardi will enter his 9th season along with D'Angelo in his 10th. Joining the coaching staff is former Knight and 2019 captain, Andrew Currie.
The Knights welcomed back five returning players including captains Noah DiEgidio and Joseph Nagnonhou. DiEgidio will enter his 4th season wearing the blue and white.
Niagara will travel to Redeemer University Saturday September 18th to take on the Royals in both teams' season openers at 6:00 P.M. at Dave Mantel Field.
