September 20, 2024
WELLAND, ON: Your Niagara Knights (2-3-1) welcomed the 2023-2024 OCAA Champion Conestoga Condors (2-2-1) to a Friday night matchup under the lights. The Knights were able to fight there way back and through determination and pride, they were able to secure a tie against a strong Condors team, with a 2-2 final score.
The Knights made for an entertaining game this past Friday as they started the game strong and were able to put the Condors back line on their toes right away. The Condors found themselves on a quick counterattack to make the game 1-0 in the 23rd minute and bring that score into the half.
In the second half of the match, we saw the Knights with a great passing sequence which led 3rd year William Mitchell to make a dashing run on the wing before cutting back towards the net, as he was able to beat the Condors keeper and make it a 1-1 game. The Condors were able to bounce back in the 90th minute to take a 2-1 lead but the Knights' willpower was able to bring them back down to the Condors box as they were able to draw a penalty shot in extra time. 1st year forward for the Knights, Gerrit Oldejans, who is coming off a 2-goal game in the Knights' 4-1 win over the Mohawk Mountaineers (1-2-1), was able to step up to the penalty spot and stay calm under pressure to make the game 2-2.
"Last nights game was a great game for our team's journey towards where we want to be. We had success, failure, heartbreak, and celebrations in cycles throughout the match and kept playing hard for the result" Frank Dechellis, the Knights' head coach stated. The game was full of emotions and the Knights kept their cool for 90 minutes of play. DeChellis continued to say "Will (Mitchell) is just returning to the lineup and he has injected more offense into the mix - it was nice to see him score."
The Knights earn some well-deserved rest over the next couple of weeks after a very hectic schedule, playing 4 games in just 7 days. You can catch the Knights back in action as they travel to take on the Redeemer Royals (3-1) on Wednesday, September 25th at 7pm.
Written by: Jack Soares, Niagara College
