Thursday, October 2nd marked the end of the 2014 season for the Niagara College women's soccer program. At Youngs SportsPlex, the Knights (1-7, 8th West) hosted the Mohawk Mountaineers (3-3-1, 6th West) and lost 1-0.
The first 20 minutes of the game produced 2 hit posts and 3 shots cleared off the goal line for the Knights.
All season long the Knights had quality goalkeeping from Melanie Bajic and Brittany Haanapel. "Mel and Brittany are top shelf," boasted 5th year head coach Frank DeChellis. "Our problems were definitely at the other end of the field this year. We were getting there and threatening, we were just putting the ball on the wrong side of the posts."
This performance showcased more of the good qualities the Knights have been seeing all year from their young team. The Knights out possessed and out shot Mohawk, the theme for the 2014 season.
Perseverance was not a quality this program lacked, as they seemed to be overcoming obstacles all season long.
"On more than one occasion we worked around illness and injuries and still produced good performances", recalled Coach DeChellis. "We had several players' bodies react negatively [shins/ankles/knees] early on to the amount of training but they grew into the routine."
The conclusion of a season also means that some varsity careers are coming to an end. Graduating players from this program are Melanie Bajic (Grimsby), Shendrita Ajvazi (St. Catharines), Cassie Gilmore (Welland), Olivia Page (Welland) and Heather McKay (Niagara Falls).
"Our graduating players set a good example for the first year players this season", said Coach DeChellis. "They were pretty selfless at times this season and made my job easier. I respect them as people and look forward to seeing them become contributing members of their communities. I expect them all to coach soccer, of course."
