For the first time in program history, the Niagara College men's soccer (4-5-2) program has advanced to the OCAA championship tournament. The last two seasons have seen the Knights qualify for the playoffs but fail to advance to the championship tournament.
The championship tournament is being hosted by Humber College this season, with eight teams from the OCAA participating. The first matchup for the Knights will be against the west division champions, the Fanshawe Falcons (7-1-2).
"Thursday's game is going to be a difficult test for this program," said fourth-year head coach Frank DeChellis. "The Falcons have only lost one game this season and have outscored their opponents by 23 goals. We have a great team and I expect these young men to leave everything on the field."
With the realignment of the divisions this season, these two programs did not meet during the regular season and Niagara is 2-6-0 against the Falcons all-time. However, the last time they played each other, the Knights came away victorious with a 3-2 win. Cedric N'Guessen scored both goals for Fanshawe, while Niagara received goals from Andy Hein (Omeemee), Keith Makubuya (St. Catharines), and Carlos Williams (St. Catharines).
Since 2007, the Knights have now played in six postseason games and goalkeeper Jordan Provenzano (Niagara Falls) has manned the net in five of those games, recording clean sheets twice.
Kick-off is set for 9:30am on October 29th. Click here for a link to the 2015-16 BelairDirect Championship website.
