Oct. 17 Niagara College report: Soccer, basketball, volleyball
The Niagara Knights women’s soccer team wrapped up regular season play last week with a tie and a win to finish with a 6-3-1 record.
The Knights tied the Humber Hawks 2-2, who were 7-0-2 before the match and ranked fourth nationally by the CCAA.
Humber struck first to go up 1-0 before Sydney Sica netted her first of the night to tie things up before the half. Humber’s Catarina Medeiros netted her second of the game late in the second half to put the Hawks up 2-1 before the Knights were awarded a penalty kick in the 84th minute where Sica scored her second of the match.
The Knights then blanked the Conestoga Condors 3-0 in Kitchener Saturday.
Sica once again got the Knights on the board on an assist from Megan Morgado. Sica notched her second of the day to start the second half to put the Knights up 2-0 before second-year defender Victoria Maciel netted her first career goal late to seal the deal at 3-0.
Sierra Naccarato recorded her third shutout of the 2022-2023 campaign.
Sica’s brilliant play through the Knights final regular season home games will rewrite the Knight’s women’s soccer record books. Earlier this month Sica became the Knights all-time leading scorer, breaking former teammate Terin Hultink’s previous record of 16. Sica finished the year with 21 goals in 19 total career games for the blue and white. She also marked another milestone with most goals scored in a single season with 12 in 10 games, previously held by Jackie Lawther (2015-2016) with nine goals in 10 games.
Finishing third in the OCAA West division, the Knights will now play host to the sixth-place East division team, George Brown (4-4-2), in a cross-over match Saturday at 2 p.m. The winner will advance to the OCAA Championships Oct 27-30 at Durham College.
MEN’S SOCCER
Niagara’s men’s team finished their regular season with two tough matches against Humber and Conestoga.
Humber, 10-0 and ranked first in the CCAA national rankings, obliterated the Knights on the scoresheet Wednesday night in an 11-0 loss.
“We were simply overwhelmed the first 15 minutes of the game,” Knights coach head coach Frank DeChellis said. “After that we pressed to score, leaving ourselves a bit open, but it was important to me that the guys work to get the ball in their end, and we did. I guess we could have sat back and kept the score lower, but that’s not the kind of learning the group needs right now. We gave a lot of our young guys a lot of minutes against the very experienced defending national champions.”
First-year keeper Vinson Notarianni faced 19 shots on goal.
“Personally, I felt Vinny did a great job in goal. He has been solid for us and made a lot of high level plays in what turned out to be a very, very busy night for him. He challenged on crosses, handled one-on-one situations very well and his distribution was the best it has been all year.”
Things didn’t get much for the Knights on Saturday when they dropped a 5-1 decision at Conestoga Condors.
The Condors built a 5-0 lead before first-year forward Isaac DeWaard netted his third of the season in the final minutes of play to spoil the Condors shutout.
The Knights will head to a playoff cross-over game at St. Lawrence College Saturday. The OCAA announced the Sheridan Bruins had forfeited seven games due to an ineligible player that rocked the OCAA West standings. The Bruins, who were atop the OCAA standings with Humber and Conestoga, dropped to 1-9 due to the forfeited games. The Knights finished the season with a 3-7 record after their two losses to the Bruins were overturned and find themselves in a playoff position as the sixth-place West Division team. Niagara will have to get past the Surge to advance to the OCAA Championships October 26-29 at Humber College.
VOLLEYBALL
Niagara’s men’s volleyball team wrapped up their pre-season play this week with a 3-0 win at home over the Georgian College Grizzlies on Wednesday night before heading to Seneca for a tournament where they finished first in their pool with games against Fleming College (L 1-3), Georgian (W 3-1) and Cambrian (W 3-2). Unfortunately, Niagara fell 3-0 to the Fanshawe Falcons in the finals.
The women wrapped up their regular season play with a 3-0 win over Georgian College Wednesday night at home.
Both Knights volleyball teams will begin regular season play on the road against Humber Saturday at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
BASKETBALL
The women’s basketball team travelled to Georgian College Wednesday night and cruised to an 84-57 win before returning home Saturday to face Loyalist College where the Knights defeated the Lancers 56-39. Niagara went 4-0 in pre-season. The Knights begin their quest for OCAA gold when they open their season at home Saturday, Oct 29 at 6 p.m.
The men also travelled to Georgian College Wednesday night where they defeated the Grizzlies 70-62. Niagara finished 2-1 in pre-season play and will gear up to start their season at home Sunday against the Canadore College Panthers at 3 p.m.
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