October 3, 2019 - WELLAND ... The men's soccer team were handed their third straight loss (fifth of the season) in a 5-0 University of Toronto-Mississauga win last night at Youngs Sportsplex. With the win, the Eagles currently sit tied for second in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) West division with Sheridan College. The Knights, now 1-5, currently sit in the 8th, on the brink of an OCAA playoff spot.
UTM came out ready to fire, netting three goals in the first half. Faris Ammari (1st year, Mississauga) punched two by Knights keeper Romario James (3rd year, Bahamas) in the first 10 minutes of the opening half. The Eagles would add one more midway through the first half from Mohammad Golmakani (3rd year, Toronto) to head into the second half with a comfortable 3-0 lead.
UTM would go on to add two more late in the game, with Niagara unable to answer through 90 minutes.
The Eagles would go on to a 5-0 win, with keeper Braeden Pinto (1st year, Mississauga earning his fourth shut-out of the year.
With the Knights on the cusp of grabbing a playoff spot, head coach Frank DeChellis knew this season was going to be a challenge, but didn't expect to be sitting this low in the OCAA West standings.
"I knew it was going to be a challenging season, but I wasn't expecting a 1-5 record after 6 games," said a disappointed DeChellis.
" A lot of individuals are doing good things, yet collectively there are still lapses in judgement and group efforts in different parts of the field. This league has the kind of quality that punishes you for poor decisions and we are feeling that in a big way. You slowly learn to minimize the big mistakes and teams have to earn their goals against you. We conceded three very avoidable goals in the first half and that is a big hole to climb out of. UTM is a decent team, but I fully expected us to come out on top tonight."
With just three games remaining in the regular seasons schedule, DeChellis is still hoping to make a post-season appearance.
"I still hope to make the post season as it would do wonders for our first year players to experience do-or-die competition."
The Knights will travel to Sheridan College on Saturday to face the 5-1 Bruins. Game time is set for 12:00 P.M.
For full Knights schedules, please visit goknights.ca
