Oct. 15 Niagara College sports report
St. Francis grad Sophia Al-Kayed is shown in action with the Niagara College women’s soccer team. Photos by RYAN MCCULLOUGH.
Welland native Jacob Therrien has been named Niagara College’s male athlete of the week.
The third-year carpentry renovations student played two strong games this weekend for the men’s soccer team against the Fanshawe Falcons and St. Clair Saints. His play demonstrated why he is a leader on the Knights roster.
“Jake covers a lot of ground for us, wins balls, and keeps things under control from his holding midfielder position,” Niagara head coach Frank DeChellis said. “As a coaching staff, we have been around the OCAA (Ontario Colleges Athletic Association) for a long time and there are very few players who can ping the ball around with as much accuracy as Jake.”
The locally born and bred Niagara coaching staff has seen Therrien grow as a soccer player and person.
“Rob (Lalama), Rino (Berardi), and Gary (Condon) and I have had a soccer connection with the Therrien family since Jake was six, so having him here with us at the college has been nothing short of a pleasure,” DeChellis said. “He’s a tremendous player and a fine young man.”
NIAGARA’S TOP FEMALE
Women’s soccer player Kaitlyn Mix is the latest winner of the Niagara College female athlete of the week award.
The first-year pre-health sciences major notched her fifth and sixth goals of the season in a pair of games last weekend.
Mix potted the lone goal in a 4-1 loss to the Fanshawe Falcons and then netted the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute in a 2-1 victory over the St. Clair Saints, knocking home a ball in the 82nd minute to secure the victory.
“We stepped it up and kept pushing at the end of the game to secure the win,” said Mix, of her late goal against St. Clair and her team’s overall performance. “Despite giving up one late, we didn’t back down and let them tie it up.”
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Niagara’s women’s soccer team sits in second place in the OCAA West with a 7-3 record following its split of two games last weekend.
Mix netted the lone goal in the loss to unbeaten Fanshawe and Mix and Fonthill native Michelle Maecker scored versus St. Clair. Goalie Alexis Hebert picked up the win in goal. St. Clair scored on a penalty kick in the 87th minute to spoil the Watertown native’s shutout.
Niagara’s seventh win set a record for the program heading into a crossover game Saturday versus the George Brown Huskies.
MEN’S SOCCER
Niagara’s men’s soccer team split a pair of games last week, losing 2-1 to unbeaten Fanshawe and blanking St. Clair 2-0.
The Knights now sit in second place in the OCAA West with a 7-3 record.
Welland native Noah DiEgidio was the lone goal scorer for the Knights against Fanshawe.
Against St. Clair, Governor Simcoe grad Oti Frigole netted both goals. He added to his school record and now has 11 goals on the season to sit in fifth place in league scoring.
The men’s seventh win is also a new school record. Niagara will host the Seneca Sting Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Youngs Sportsplex in the opening round of the OCAA playoffs.
HOME OPENERS
The men’s and women’s basketball teams will play their home openers on Friday at 6 and 8 p.m. versus Redeemer. The volleyball teams will play their home openers Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m. versus Fanshawe.
Coverage of the Niagara Knights is made possible with the support of the Niagara College Department of Athletics & Recreation. For more information, please visit www.goknights.ca
