The 2018 OCAA men's soccer championship will include the Niagara Knights (5-1-1, 2nd OCAA West). After defeating the Mohawk Mountaineers (1-6, 5th OCAA West) on September 29th, the Knights officially clinched a berth into the playoffs.
Niagara struck first as Harrison Fyke (Ridgeway) found Noah DiEgidio (Welland) for the opening goal in the 30th minute, his third of the season. With barely enough time to celebrate, however, Mohawk would tie things up, as Adam Villela would capitalize off of a Niagara error on the back-end.
Just two minutes later, Oti Frigole (St. Catharines) would redeem the costly team error, scoring the first of his eventual two-goal performance. This marked the third time over his rookie season that Frigole has had a multi-goal game, bringing his season total up to six. With three games remaining, Frigole has a chance to catch the Knights single-season goal record which was set back in 2009 by former Knight Matt Miedema.
Three goals were all Niagara needed as they picked up the 3-2 victory. Nolan Bradshaw (Niagara Falls) was phenomenal in net after being tasked with the goalkeeping duties in just the 10th minute when Romario James (Bahames) went down with an injury. Bradshaw stopped 8 of the 10 shots he faced, leading his team to victory.
"No matter the year, the record or situation, our games with Mohawk are always tight and hotly contested," said Knights Head Coach Frank DeChellis. "Because of our proximity to each other, a lot of the players are familiar with each other from club soccer. The rivalry is good for the league and for both our programs."
Despite having to go very deep in their bench, the Knights' stayed composed and executed their individual tasks which led to an important win.
"Everybody got into the game today, including both goalkeepers," said DeChellis. "We had a few injuries and struggled to find the right combination in certain parts of the field, so our bench was like a revolving door at times. It's not easy getting thrown into a fully charged match, but our role players handled the pressure and knew their jobs."
The Knights got some help from the St Clair Saints (3-4, 4th OCAA West) over the weekend as they defeated the Redeemer Royals (4-1-2, 3rd OCAA West), allowing Niagara to leap-frog the Royals in the OCAA West standings. With just three matches to go, perhaps no game will be more important than this upcoming Tuesday when the Knights and Royals face-off with second-place on the line. Niagara can give themselves a five-point cushion over their division foe with a win, while a victory for the Royals would give them a one-point advantage over Niagara.
"With the weekend results in, Tuesday's game with Redeemer was just upgraded to a huge match," said DeChellis. "As always, we'll be ready."
The Knights will welcome the Redeemer Royals to Welland on Tuesday, October 2nd at Youngs Sportsplex (570 River Road). Admission is free for all spectators, and the match is set to begin at 6pm.
