History was made in the Niagara Knights (5-2, 2nd OCAA West) victory over the Mohawk Mountaineers (3-2-2, 3rd OCAA West) this past weekend.
Michelle Maecker (Fonthill) wasted no time earning herself the title of the Niagara Knights' all-time leading scorer. After tying the record in the previous match, Maecker scored in just the 14th minute of the match against the Mohawk Mountaineers on September 29th to move into first-place.
Later on, in the 38th minute, Katelyn Mix (Gilford) continued her impressive rookie campaign, notching her 4th goal of the season off of a perfectly timed through ball from captain Kara Latham (Welland). Mix has been especially impressive of late, scoring in each of her previous three matches.
Just before the final whistle blew, the Mountaineers' Daniela Cardillo would ruin the Knights' clean sheet, beating Alexis Hebert (Waterdown) for the first time all game. Hebert was outstanding in net, making 18 saves in her fourth win of the season.
The 2-1 victory provided some breathing room in the standings for the Knights, as they now sit four points ahead of the Mountaineers for second-place in the OCAA West. The win was also the team's 5th of the season, breaking the program record for single-season wins. Previously, the Knights had only reached four wins twice, back in 2015 and again in 2017.
For the career goals record, Maecker surpassed former Knight Jackie Lawther, who scored 10 goals throughout the 2014 and 2015 seasons. With still three games remaining on the season, Maecker will have an opportunity to add onto her record.
"I'm very honoured to be the leader," said Maecker on her accomplishment after the game. "I wouldn't be able to do it without my teammates. They push me every day to become a better player. I'm excited to see what happens in the last three games."
The Knights also secured an opportunity to play in the OCAA playoffs with their win. With the top four teams in the division making the playoffs, the Knights can finish no worse than 4th place with the 5th place Redeemer Royals only being able to finish with a maximum of 14 points.
"The team continues to work so hard in training and their expectations are getting much higher every game," said Knights Head Coach Rob Lalama. "Today we backed off in the second half with our 2-0 lead. We need to make sure that doesn't happen again and keep playing for the full 90 minutes."
With a victory over the Redeemer Royals (1-4-2, 5th OCAA West) in their next match, Niagara can guarantee themselves at worst a third-place finish, which would grant them a home match in the division cross-over game of the OCAA Championship.
The Knights will host the Redeemer Royals on Tuesday, October 2nd at Youngs Sportsplex (570 River Road) in Welland. Admission is free for all spectators and the match is set to begin at 4pm.
