After sweeping their weekend road trip in Windsor and Sarnia, the Niagara Knights women's soccer program (2-2, 3rd OCAA West) had their two-game winning streak snapped against the Fanshawe Falcons (4-0-0, 1st OCAA West) on September 19th.
The Falcons, who had yet to concede a goal before their matchup with the Knights, came out flying at the start of the match. Ex-Canadian National team member Jade Kovacevic was dominant for the Falcons, scoring all three of Fanshawe's goals in the first half. Kovacevic's three goals extended her scoring total to 15 on the season and 64 in her OCAA career.
Despite a one-sided score early in the contest, there was no quit within the Knights' players as they continued to play the Falcons tough. Their efforts paid off in the 62nd minute as Michelle Maecker (Fonthill), Niagara's 2017-18 goal-scoring leader and reigning OCAA West Rookie of the Year, made no mistake heading home a perfectly executed through ball off a free kick from Niagara captain Kara Latham (Welland). The goal was Maecker's first of the season, a much-anticipated goal after she scored six times a year ago.
Despite being the first team to score against the Falcons all-season long, the Knights had a hard time putting together any offense, spending most of the game in their own half. In total, the Knights put forward two shots-on-goal, one of them being Maecker's second-half strike.
Amanda Borowski (Welland) was extremely impressive, as she played her first ever OCAA game as a goalkeeper. The midfielder suited up and played in net for the Knights, as the team's star goalkeeper Alexis Hebert (Waterdown) was unavailable. Borowski left a very positive first impression, stopping all but three of the Falcons' 12 shots-on-goal.
Head Coach Rob Lalama was happy with how his team listened to his half-time message and made adjustments in the second-half.
"Fanshawe is the top team in the division for a reason, [they have] so many high-level players. Our team failed to defend, pressure and to put passes together," said Lalama. "At half, I challenged the ladies on all of these points. The goal was to win the second half, and we were able to do that."
The Knights will look to rebound this upcoming weekend when they travel to Ancaster to take on the Redeemer Royals (1-3, 5th OCAA West).
"I know this group, they have a lot of pride," said Lalama on his team looking ahead to their next match. "We'll learn from the loss to Fanshawe, work on our weaknesses and come back even stronger. We will need to be ready when we travel to Redeemer on Saturday."
Going into the match with an even record, the Knights will need to find a way to take down the Royals and get back to a winning record if they want to ensure they have a chance at making the playoffs. The Knights will be down a key player, however, as Latham will be serving a one game suspension after picking up her third yellow card of the season against the Falcons. The matchup against the Royals will mark the halfway point of the season, so the time to win is now.
The Niagara Knights women'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 1pm.
