Sweep sends two teams to provincials
Niagara College wins first-ever playoff game in women’s soccer
Niagara is going to the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) men’s soccer championships for the fourth straight year.
They won’t be the only soccer team from the region’s community college competing for a medal at provincials.
For the first time ever, Niagara qualified to advance to the women’s championships.
Unassisted goals at the 30th minute, Katelyn Mix; 51st, Madison Harley; and 57th; gave Niagara a 3-0 victory over the George Brown Huskies in the women’s game that kicked off a playoff doubleheader Saturday at Youngs Sportsplex in Welland.
“A total team performance was needed today,” women’s head coach Rob Lalama said. “I was proud how the team stayed calm despite being outchanced by George Brown initially.
“We weathered the storm and then Mix’s goal sent us on our way. After that goal, we began to pay to our potential and control the game.”
The head coach was especially happy for longtime assistant coach Gary Condon.
“At the final whistle he had tears in his eyes,” Lalama said. “He has been with this program for 10 years, this meant so much to him.”
In men’s action, Governor Simcoe Secondary School graduate Oti Frigole put the Knights on the scoreboard six minutes into the elimination game, and hosts remained in the lead until Marcus McGlynn tied the match in the 74th minute for the Seneca Sting.
Welland Centennial alum Alex Latham put Niagara back on the top six minutes later with the eventual game-winning goal.
“We didn’t play a full 90 minutes, of solid soccer, but we did have a good game overall,” men’s head coach Frank DeChellis said. “We were unsettled for 15 minutes at the beginning of the second half then got our rhythm back.
“It’s an experience thing to deal with a team that is desperate for their season to continue and that’s what we had to deal with.”
Latham said after the game while it’s hard to find the back of the net in a playoff game, Notre Dame grad Jacob Therrien made it less difficult with his strong play deep in Seneca’s end.
“Jake’s cross was so perfect, I had no choice but to bury it,” he said after scoring his first goal of the season. “Nobody wants to be the guy who misses on a nice setup.”
Shots on goal in the women’s game were 22-11 in favour of the Knights, and Alexis Hebert made six saves for the shutout.
“The first 10 minutes took us by surprise,”
Hebert said, “but once we found our composure and figured out how GB was playing, we came back and scored those three amazing goals.”
Romario James stopped five shots to earn the win in the men’s game.
Niagara’s next opponent won’t be determined until seeding is completed for the OCAA championships. The eight-team tournament hosted by George Brown College kstarts Thursday at Esther Shiner Stadium in Toronto.
Several Knights have been nominated for provincial honours that will be bestowed at the awards banquet Wednesday night: Jordi Amores, player of the year; Quinton Leone, defensive player of the year; Frigole, rookie of the year; Noah DiEgidio, Harry Fyke, Anu Makinwa, Temi Makinwa, Therrien, all-stars.
Basketball
Bridget Atkinson had quite a night in her regular-season debut as a Knight.
Atkinson, who played her high school hoops at Welland Centennial for going on to play at Guelph and Brock, had 30 points, 17 rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
“That’s pretty good!” head coach Mike Beccaria said after his team opened the women’s basketball season at home by beating the Redeemer Royals 83-79 in overtime.
Holy Cross graduate Tia Stys contributed 23 points and 14 rebounds for the Knights, and Hannah Baker, Thorold High, added 15 and shot 5-for-6 from the freethrow line.
Niagara struggled in the preseason due to injuries to key players.
“We are still trying to find out who we are and what we’re capable of,” Beccaria said. “We did not play well for three quarters but showed character and resiliency in overcoming a 21-point, fourthquarter deficit.
“As coaches we’d prefer not to have to do that on a consistent basis.”
Ridley alum Livingston Bromwell led all scorers with 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Knights completed a sweep of Redeemer with an 108-98 victory in the men’s game.
Team captain Van Hutchinson Jr. had 19 points in the win and came down with a game-high 15 rebounds.
Kevin Cooper, Alex Elliott and Dave Morrison each scored 12 points to give Phil Mosley the win in his first regular-season game as men’s team head coach.
“Tonight we took a positive step in our journey to be a strong contender in the OCAA West this season,” Mosley said. “We had good contributions from several players and took advantage of our depth and athleticism to begin the season with a win.”
Next up for the men’s and women’s teams is a doubleheader versus the Conestoga Condors Wednesday night in Kitchener.
Volleyball
Unlike their men’s basketball counterpart, Niagara’s two new volleyball head coaches will have to wait until at least the second game of the season to get their first win.
Both Natasha Spaling, women’s; and Tommy Sloan, men’s; lost on their home court to the Fanshawe Falcons.
“We came out well in the first set, did an excellent job following the game plan,” Spaling said after the four-set setback – 25-20, 25-18, 25-14, 25-18.
“It was a very tight game after that, but we just stopped our momentum a few too many times with missed serves and unforced errors.”
Fanshawe swept the Niagara men 25-21, 25-19, 25-13.
“We started the match strongly and were able to execute our offence the way we wanted to, however as each set wore on we weren’t able to maintain the same level of play as Fanshawe,” Sloan said.
“Fanshawe showed why they are defending CCAA (Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association) silver medallists and they were able to put us in tough spots later in each set.”
He praised the play of rookie outside hitter Michah Nieuwets and Robbie Zalewski who is back for a second season at libero.
Niagara’s volleyball teams play Conestoga on the road Thursday.