Women's Soccer
The Niagara Knights women's soccer team played their final regular season home game shutting out the St. Clair Saints 3-0 in a frosty Friday night match at Youngs Sportsplex. The win proved to be a perfect backdrop to the evening that saw nine players recognized in a pre-game ceremony as graduating Knights athletes at the end of this season. Valerie Andrew, Sydney Sica, Sierra Naccarato, McKenna Jackson, Jessica Hric, Megan Morgado, Rachel Looby, Rylan Greatrix and Avery Trask will all be graduating from their respective programs in 2023. Natasha Desjardins will also wrap up her fifth and final year of eligibility this season, and will be recognized at the conclusion of the volleyball season.
Naccarato earned her second shut-out of the season to backstop the Knights to a 3-0 win, while Greatrix and Sica combined for three goals on the night. Sica's two goals led her to become the Knights All-Time Scoring leader with 17 goals - previously held by Terin Hultink. Sica has a career 17 goals in 17 games with the Knights, with two games left in this 2022-2023 season.
The Knights will wrap up their regular season play this week with a game at Humber (7-0-1) on Wednesday at 7:00pm, and Saturday at Conestoga (1-5-2) at 1:00pm. The Knights currently sit third in the OCAA West Division standings with a 5-3 record and are poised to host a cross-over playoff game October 22 at Youngs Sportspex. Final standings will be determined after regular season play this coming weekend.
Men's Soccer
The Niagara Knights men's soccer team had their senior's night and final home game of the year spoiled by the visiting St. Clair Saints under the lights at Youngs Friday. The team has struggled to find the back of the net this season with just goals scored in eight games. The St. Clair Saints came in to the game with 25 goals for and a 3-3-1 record to sit in the middle of the pack in the OCAA West Division.
The Saints struck early in the first half and carried the 1-0 lead until late in the second when they netted their second of the night to go up 2-0 and hand the Knights their fifth straight loss.
The Knights honoured nine graduating athletes including five-year Knights veteran and captain, Noah DiEgidio. In his five years spent in the blue and white, DiEgidio has several accolades to his name. In 2021 he was awarded the team's Leadership Award for the 2020-2021 season, was a previous OCAA Academic Award winner and named Athlete of the Week numerous times over his career. Friday marked DiEgidio's 41st career regular season game in addition to 10 post season appearances.
Joel Marinas, Simon Silverio, David Bandura, Travis Korten, Ryan Williams, Vinson Notarianni, Adrian Scocchia, David Hall and Blake Kokko were also recognized for their year's of service in a Knights uniform.
Niagara will wrap up their regular season this week with two tough matches at hand against Humber (8-0) on Wednesday and Conestoga (6-1-1). The Knights currently sit tied for the final playoff position, with Mohawk, Niagara and Lambton all fighting for the 7th and 8th positions at 1-7. Should Niagara finish in the 7th or 8th position, they will travel to Seneca or George Brown for their OCAA cross-over game.
Women's Volleyball
The Knights women's volleyball team competed in their second pre-season volleyball tournament this past weekend in Sheridan where they went 3-1 on the weekend. The Knights took down Boreal College 3-0, Fleming College 3-0 and Sheridan in a 3-2 thrilling match before ultimately losing to Conestoga 3-0 in the semi-final. The women will host Georgian College in a pre-season match tomorrow at home at 6:00pm.
Men's Volleyball
The Niagara Knights men's volleyball team travelled to Durham College on the weekend to compete in the Durham College Adidas Thanksgiving Classic. Niagara finished at the top of pool B with 2 wins and 1 loss. The blue and white defeated Loyalist 3-0, Conestoga 3-0 and Durham 3-0 before advancing to the championship game where they were defeated by the Trent Excalibur 3-0. Knights second-year setter Carter Thurman was named a tournament all-star. The men will now look ahead to their pre-season match against Georgian tomorrow night at 8:00pm
Women's Basketball
The women's basketball team played host to Seneca College on Friday night where they easily handled the Sting in a 71-38 win. Taryn Mitchell netted 20 points for the blue and white. The women will play host to the Loyalist Lancers Saturday afternoon at 4:00pm.
Men's Basketball
The men's basketball squad hosted Hilbert College (Hamburg, NY) on Friday night, falling just short in a 89-86 win for Hilbert. Delroy Grandison finished the night with 24 points. Niagara will host Rochester institute of Technology tonight at 6:00pm.
