The Niagara Knights men's soccer program (1-2, 3rd OCAA Central) dropped a closely contested 2-1 match against the CCAA #1 ranked Humber Hawks (3-0, 1st OCAA Central) on Wednesday night in Toronto.
It was an evenly contested match early in the contest. Keith Makubuya (St. Catharines) rattled a ball off the post in the first 10 minutes. Humber would respond quickly, grabbing an early 1-0 lead in the game's 20th minute. They would follow it up with another marker in the 40th minute. However the Knights would respond on a penalty kick in the 43rd minute of the match. Makubuya made no mistake, scoring his second of the young season from the penalty spot to draw the Knights back within one.
That was as close as Niagara would get to the defending national champions, as Humber would hang on in the second half to secure a 2-1 victory over the visitors. Sam Robson (Milton) was absolutely spectacular in the goal, recording 12 saves in the losing effort. He made several big stops throughout the match that would fuel the energy level of the squad in front of him.
Despite the loss Head Coach Frank DeChellis was pleased with his team's effort. "The technical, tactical and competitive levels we displayed against the defending champs demonstrated that we can compete with the best," said DeChellis. He added that the team has plenty to build upon from the effort that will only serve to improve them moving forward. "The score was not to our liking, but out coaching staff took a lot of information from that match," DeChellis said of the outcome.
Makubuya's goal was the seventh in his career as a Niagara Knight. That moves him into third place all-time on the Knights career goal scoring list. He now sits only behind Carlos Williams (2013-14) who notched nine, and Matt Miedema (2007-11) with 10 on the list.
Niagara will now have a few days off before welcoming the Sheridan Bruins (1-1, 3rd OCAA Central) to Youngs Sportsplex for a Sunday evening matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 8pm. Admission is free for all spectators.
