For the first time in history the Niagara Knights women's soccer program has advanced to the OCAA Championships. The Knights, who took on the George Brown Huskies in the crossover game at Youngs Sportsplex this past Saturday, stormed to a 3-0 victory to secure their championship berth.
It took a bit of time for the Knights to get going as George Brown hustled early and put the Knights in a defensive position for the early part of the match. However, the momentum completely switched sides in the 30th minute when Katelyn Mix (Gilford) opened the scoring for the Knights. The rookie extend her goal scoring streak to four consecutive games, and six of the previous seven matches dating back to September 22nd.
After coming out of the half-time break with a 1-0 lead, it didn't take long for the Knights to keep things going as Madison Harley (Milton) buried her first OCAA goal of her career in the 51st minute. Just six minutes later in the 57th, Mix continued her impressive rookie season with her second goal of the game and the eighth goal of her young career. Mix's two tallies also marked the first time a Knights' woman has scored a pair of goals in a playoff game.
Goalkeeper Alexis Hebert (Waterdown) shut the door on the Huskies' attack, stopping all six shots that found their way on net. Her clean sheet was a continuation of her impressive regular season in which she had two clean sheets in seven matches played.
"The first 10 minutes took us by surprise," said Hebert. "But once we found our composure and figured out how they were playing, we came back and scored three well earned goals."
Knights head coach Rob Lalama was impressed with how his team played in the most important matchup of the season. "A total team performance was needed today," said Lalama. "I was proud of how the team stayed calm despite being out chanced early. We weathered the storm and then Mix's first goal sent us on our way."
Knights captain Kara Latham was thrilled at her team's accomplishment in her third season with the program.
"When the whistle finally blew at the end it was such a surreal feeling knowing we've done it, were going to the OCAA Championships," said Latham. "Going through the ups and downs of the year, the daily training, and the growth we've made as a team is such a good feeling that our hard work has finally paid off."
The Knights victory moves them into the 2018 OCAA Women's Soccer Championship, hosted by Seneca College. Niagara will open the campaign against the Central Division's 2nd place Durham Lords at 1pm. With Seneca playing host, the Lords earned an automatic berth to the tournament on the back of their 9-2-1 regular season record.
For more information on the 2018 OCAA Women's Soccer Championship, click here. All games in the tournament will be streamed live at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/seneca/.
