Tuesday night saw the Niagara Knights men's soccer program extend their winning streak to four with a dominant 5-1 road victory over the Redeemer Royals.
Veteran striker Carlos Williams (St. Catharines) carried the Knights in the early stages breaking the team's all-time career scoring record in the 37th minute. He added another goal in the 45th minute bringing his career total to 12, two better than former record holder Matt Miedema. The former Governor Simcoe standout returned to the Knights this season, after a two year hiatus, and now has 12 goals in just 19 games played.
Always humble, Williams said "being able to score a record setting goal is an honour, but not nearly as big an honour as it is to wear the Knights jersey and contribute to an important win on the road.''
After being ranked in the OCAA weekly rankings for the first time in program history on Tuesday morning, the Knights played like a team determined to climb higher than their current No. 5 position. The team directed a total 30 shot attempts towards the Redeemer goal, their highest total of the 2017 season.
The Knights carried a 2-0 lead into halftime. The Royals pulled within one in the 52nd minute, but that proved as close as the game would get, as dynamic second year midfielder Marc-Andre Boucher found the back of the net for the fourth time in as many games in the 69th minute. Boucher has been electric for the Knights in 2017 as his four tallies currently leads the team.
Rookie forward Eric Woodland (St. Catharines) notched his first career OCAA goal in the 78th minute, before fourth-year anchor Jordi Amroes (Niagara Falls) put the game on ice in the 86th minute with his third of the season. Amores is coming of OCAA and CCAA athlete of the week accolades last week.
"We showed tremendous character tonight" said Knights assistant coach Rino Berardi who helmed the team during the victory. "Giving up a goal that allowed the home team to potentially gain momentum, could have created for some anxious moments in the final 2O minutes. However, responding with one of our own only moments later, is the type of determination and resilience our guys have shown all year."
The win moves the Knights to 4-1 on the season and firmly into second place in the OCAA West Division. Up next the team will host the Lambton Lions at 4:00pm on September 30th at Youngs SportsPlex in Welland.
