Friday, October 11th will see the Niagara College men's soccer program (3-3-2) visit the St. Clair Saints (4-2-2) for the first round of the 2013 OCAA playoffs. The Knights finished the season in 5th place in the competitive OCAA West Division, while the Saints finished in fourth.
The two teams last met on September 22nd and played to an emotional 1-1 draw. First-year midfielder Jordi Amores of Niagara Falls scored the Knights lone goal in the 65th minute to pull the Knights even with the Saints.
Niagara College men's soccer head coach Frank DeChellis is optimistic in advance of Friday's matchup. "It's been a positive and enjoyable week of preparation. This is a fun loving, talented bunch who are tactically astute. The on-field product will be strong. We are relatively healthy, a little more experienced than we were in August, and the expectations we've placed on ourselves are high."
Heading into the matchup the Knights will look for the continued offensive touch of Amores, and forwards Carlos Williams and Austin MacDonell.
Williams, a native of St. Catharines, led the Knights in scoring this season, recording five goals in seven matches. The First-year Protection, Security, and Investigations student hones his skills playing with Niagara United of the Canadian Soccer League.
MacDonell is in his second year with the Niagara College men's soccer program and is a native of Pickering. MacDonell has been a catalyst for the Knights this season, serving as the Knights primary offensive set-up man, and recording 4 goals in 8 matches.
Three of MacDonell's goals came during the Knights playoff clinching 4-0 victory of the Lambton Lions on Sunday, October 6th. MacDonell was named OCAA Men's Soccer Athlete of the Week for his performance.
Defensively the Knights will be led by veteran center back Will Janetos. The fourth-year team captain has played stalwart defense for the Knights this season, playing virtually every minute of all eight of the Knights matches thus far in 2013. Janetos competes in the first division of the Canadian Soccer League with Niagara United and was named Niagara College men's soccer MVP last season.
This season marks the first time since 2010-11 that the Niagara College men's soccer program has made the post-season.
The winner of Friday's match will travel to Ottawa to face the Algonquin Thunder. The Thunder wrapped up the 2013 regular season with a record of 6-0-2 and finished in first-place in the OCAA East Division.
