Sept. 23 Niagara College report: Soccer; golf; scholar athletes
Niagara College’s men’s soccer team improved to 2-3-1 in Ontario Colleges Athletic Association play last week with a win and a tie.
The Knights defeated Mohawk 4-1 on goals by Gerrit Oldejans (2), Mike DiMaurizio and Dom McIntosh. Contributing assists were Robert McMillan, Aidan Astudillo and Oldejans.
“That performance and result could not have come at a better time. The players and coaches were still feeling the sting of the game we let slip away on Sunday. We played well again, we won balls in good areas and buried the ball in the net four times, and we needed all 18 players to do it,” Niagara head coach Frank DeChellis said. “Gerrit Odeljans stole the show with two goals and an assist. Garrit came to us looking to continue his scoring production from three years at Redeemer. He has been playing well but the goals have been eluding him. Mike DiMaurizio is another guy we needed to start scoring and he now has two in two games. Dom McIntosh’s excellent work as a role player was rewarded with a cheeky goal to make the game 3-0. Nolan Freel and Noah DiMaurizio shared goalkeeping duties and both had to make several difficult stops to preserve the result.”
Niagara tied Conestoga 2-2 thanks to a penalty kick goal late in stoppage time by Oldejans. William Mitchell also scored for Niagara and an assist was added by Ferdinand Lokole.
“Last night 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. Conestoga is the current Canadian College Athletic Association silver-medal holders and our guys took them to the mats. We fought back twice to even the game at 1-1 and 2-2, we even had a goal called back to go up 2-1, and they kept competing,” DeChellis said.
Juan Plata, Jack Soares, Alex Marrese and Lokole played well at centre back and defenders Will Mitchell, Matt Bogusat and Kylar Lampman kept Conestoga’s lethal wingers in check.
“Will is just returning to the lineup and he has injected more offence into the mix and it was nice to see him score,” he said.
DeChellis was also pleased with his team’s goaltending.
“Nolan Freel has been outstanding and our goalkeeping crew of Nolan, Noah DiMaurizio, Cole Smith and Logan Dickie are driving the team’s spirit and energy at training.”
He feels it’s important the program is able to compete, make games exciting and get results.
“Exciting games are important for the development of our program, players and officials. I love the fact that we are entertaining, fearless and dangerous and giving our fans a great experience.”
Niagara is at Redeemer (3-1) Wednesday.
WOMEN’S SOCCER
Niagara women’s soccer team sits atop the OCAA West Division with a 4-1-1 record after recording a win and a draw last week.
The Knights tied Mohawk 1-1 on a goal by Aneisha Gobbels. Niagara gave up the tying goal in the 90th minute.
Niagara blanked Conestoga 2-0 on goals by Lily Ryder and Siera Warkentin. Assists were added by Mia DiPasquale and Ryder and Sarah Haist recorded the shutout by making nine saves. Haist, a rookie from Welland, was named Niagara’s Female Athlete of the Week.
“Both teams put on a spirited display of football,” Niagara head coach Rob Lalama said. “The game was fast, physical and skillful. I was proud of our team’s intelligence and ability to move the ball. I believe we are improving every game. This team is a joy to coach.”
Niagara is at Redeemer (3-1) Wednesday.
GOLF
The men’s golf team recorded a team score of 321 to place fifth at a tournament at Cardinal Lakes Golf Club. The top performer for Niagara was Ethan Siebert who shot a 76 to place in the top 10. Robbie Stewart’s 79 placed him in the top 20.
Niagara recorded a team score of 317 to end up ninth at a tournament at Sawmill Golf Course. Siebert finished in the top 15 with a 75 and Matthew Palumbi carded a 79 for Niagara.
Siebert, a second-year golfer from Beamsville, was named Niagara’s Male Athlete of the Week.
Next up for the Knights are the OCAA Championships, Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 at the Barrie Country Club.
SCHOLAR ATHLETES
Forty of Niagara College’s athletes received Canadian College Athletic Association National Scholar Awards for their classroom performances during the 2023-24 season.
“Our Niagara College Knights student-athletes continue to shine in the classroom,” said Michele O’Keefe, Niagara’s director of athletics and student engagement. “Our consistency of having our student-athletes receive this notable honour is something we take great pride in. The balance of school and varsity athletics is not easy and we congratulate our Knights for their incredible work.”
The awards are given to athletes achieving honours (80 per cent or better average) standing while competing on an intercollegiate sport program.
National Scholar Award recipients were: women’s soccer players Mia DiPasquale, Aneisha Gobbels; Tori Hultink, Taylor Hynes, Hannah Kelly, Ashley Phillips, Natalie Sistero and Hannah Vander Meulen; women’s soccer/basketball player Jayda Rodriguez; men’s soccer players Christian Buccella, Ferdinand Lokole, Joel Marinas and Noah Vogel; golfers Tristano Mancuso and Aidan McVey; women’s basketball players Wilhelmina Coyishakiye, Janee Harrison, Griffin Lack-Shane, Taryn Mitchell, Ella Peters, Kate Roth and Jamira Rousseau; men’s basketball players Ethan Alino-Dela Cruz; Riley Bleich, Nikola Hrnjez, Kadin Moore and Reggie Williams; women’s volleyball players Jadyn Bertrand, Rachael Bickford, Kyrah Cameron, Emma Gmoser, Rhea-Lee Humphrey, Taylor Lisbeth and Montanna Taylor; and, men’s volleyball players Britton Burrows, Tyler Carmichael, Jordan Schroeder, Andrew Vandenburg and Tristan Vermolen.
