September 13, 2019…Welland - The Niagara College men's soccer team fell to 0-2 on the season with a 3-1 loss to Mohawk College tonight at Youngs Sportsplex.
The Mountaineers got on the board first with a goal by Claudio Labardy off a rebound save from Knights keeper, Romario James (3rd year, Bahamas) at the 40 minute mark of the first half. The Knights had their fair share of chances, hammering seven shots at Labardy, including a howitzer from Rhys Jones (1st year, Woodstock) from the top of the 18 yard box, but still couldn't bury it at the back of the net. Both Labardy and James exchanged spectacular saves, facing seven and nine shots respectively.
The Knights evened things up at the 60 minute mark of the game with Oti Frigole (2nd year, St. Catharines) finding the back of the net on an awarded penalty kick to Niagara, after a brilliant individual effort by Brock University transfer James D'Annunzio (2nd year, Niagara Falls)
Mohawk didn't let the Knights celebrate for long, with Matthew Cunha netting one past James to pull ahead to 2-1.
The Mountaineers would go on to add one more to their total, after a free kick by Andrew Fonovic had some help with the wind and curved around James' reach to make it 3-1.
Fonovic's goal would be the game winner, with Mohawk improving to 1-1 on their season.
Head coach Frank DeChellis was visibly disappointed after his team's second straight loss at home.
"I am very disappointed with our result tonight," said DeChellis.
"Our program hasn't been 0-2 in a long, long time. The guys worked hard, but that's not enough in this league. We need to work intelligently as a group with a purpose. We are a little bit beat up with injuries, but I felt we still had the man-power to win that game."
Despite not getting the results he wanted, DeChellis remains optimistic about his squad heading into next week's preparations.
"We have lots to build on and we have lots of young, talented players. Like always, we are excited for our next match-up."
DeChellis and co. will look to get their first win when they hit the road next Saturday to take on Lambton College. Lambton currently sits 0-1 with a game at hand tomorrow against Sheridan College.