Saturday, September 19.
2:00pm kick-off.
Trafalgar, Oakville.
After losing their home opener 2-0 in a tough, hard-fought battle with the Humber Hawks (1-0, 1stCentral), the Niagara College (0-1, 5th Central) men's soccer program must now go on the road to face the reigning CCAA champions, the Sheridan Bruins (1-0, 2nd Central).
Since the foundation of the men's soccer program in 2007, the Knights have failed to beat the Bruins and are 0-10 all-time against the perennial powerhouse, while being outscored 35-7.
With nearly the entire roster turned over from last season, the Bruins defeated the University of Toronto Mississauga 2-0 in their season opener September 13th. Among the student-athletes not returning for Sheridan this season is CCAA All-Canadian David Velastegui and OCAA Rookie of the Year Raheem Edwards.
In the loss to Humber, third-year keeper Jordan Provenzano (Niagara Falls) made a career-high 12 saves and will be called upon once again to keep his team in contention to win the match.
"Jordan played a fantastic match against the defending OCAA champs," said head coach Frank DeChellis. "We started seven freshman against a very difficult opponent and he kept us in it all game long. We are going to need another strong performance from him Saturday afternoon."
With the realignment of the OCAA divisions, the OCAA central has been dubbed the "group of death". Between Humber and Sheridan, five OCAA medals and three CCAA championships have been captured in the last five seasons.
"We got dealt a difficult hand to start the season," added coach DeChellis, "however I believe this start is the best way to really test this program."
