The Niagara Knights men's soccer program (3-1-0, 2nd OCAA West) was handed their first defeat of their season Wednesday night, dropping a 3-0 decision to the Fanshawe Falcons (3-0-1, 1st OCAA West).
The scoring started early, as Fanshawe's Ryan Baker got one past Niagara's Romario James (Bahamas), putting his team up 1-0 in the 17th minute. Despite the Knights keeping it close for a majority of the match, Fanshawe started running away with it late when Mike Sneddon scored in the 73rd, followed by an 81st minute strike from Jonathan Kam.
Despite a 3-0 loss, Niagara's Head Coach Frank DeChellis was impressed with the play of his goalkeeper.
"Romario had a very good game in goal," DeChellis said. "Coach Gerry [D'Angelo] has been working him hard and it's showing more and more each game. As a shot stopper or support player in possession, Romario is proving to be an asset."
James was busy all match long as the Falcons managed to put nine shots on goal, six of which he kept out of his net.
On the other side of the pitch, Fanshawe went with a different goalkeeper in each half. Alexander Jakma saved all three of Niagara's on-target shots in the first half, while Jacob Atkinson stopped Niagara's lone second half shot-on-goal.
On a night that found little to be excited about, DeChellis also praised the play of Noah DiEgidio (Welland).
"Noah put in a good night's work as a holding midfielder after David Fimiak (St. Catharines) went down with an injury," said DeChellis. "He was a solid support man for centrebacks Jacob Therrien (Welland) and Quinton Leone (Niagara Falls)."
Overall, DeChellis knows that it is important to take this loss and use it as fuel to come back strong in the next game.
"I was not the happiest guy in Welland tonight. We were very good in some parts of the field and not so good in other parts," said DeChellis. "We know what we need to work on and will be ready for Saturday. If these guys want to make a playoff run again, we better learn how to recover from bumps in the road together."
Niagara will have a few days of training to work on their mistakes before they hit the road again for their second straight weekend road trip. This time around it's a one-day trip, as they travel West on the Queen Elizabeth Way to Ancaster to take on the Redeemer Royals (2-0-1, 3rd OCAA West).
It will be a tough matchup for the Knights once again, as Redeemer drew 2-2 with the Falcons back on September 13th. If the Knights want to get back into the winning column, it will be crucial that they learn from their mistakes and overcome adversity.
The Niagara Knights men's soccer program travel to Ancaster on Saturday, September 22nd to take on the Redeemer Royals. The game will be played at Royals Soccer Complex (777 Garner Road East) starting at 3pm.
