October 9, 2024
WELLAND, ON: Your Niagara Knights (6-2-1) sent the fans home happy on Senior Night with a late goal, to beat the Mohawk Mountaineers (4-4-1) 1-0 in a back-and-forth match Wednesday night.
Niagara, celebrating 9 seniors on the night (Olivia Collevecchio, Mia DiPasquale, Taylor Hynes, Juliana Mack Greco, Cora Meloche, Ashley Phillips, Jayda Rodrigue, Lily Ryder and Sara Vogel), gave the fans something to cheer for just before heading home. In extra time, goalkeeper Sarah Haist corralled the loose ball before springing 3 Knights players towards the Mountaineers net. After some pinball play in the Mountaineers end, the ball fell to the foot of 2nd year midfielder Aneisha Gobbels, as she calmly placed the ball passed the Mohawk keeper and defender – giving the Knights the 1-0 victory.
This win secures home field advantage for the first round of the playoffs, which begin October 16th, allowing the Knights to finish no lower than 3rd place in the OCAA West.
"I am extremely proud of how the team performed tonight" were the first words out of Rob Lalama's mouth, head coach of the Niagara Knights, following the thrilling win. "We had a short bench because of injuries, so everyone healthy got a chance to contribute. The fans got their money's worth tonight – great goalkeeping, good defending and good scoring opportunities all around."
The Niagara Knights travel to Oakville on Saturday, October 12th for an afternoon matchup against the Sheridan Bruins (4-5). Your Knights will take to the field at noon in hopes of capturing the #2 seed in the West with a win over the Bruins and a little bit of help in some other OCAA matchups.
