Niagara College Knights fall at provincial championship
Men’s and women’s teams come up short in matches with Humber and Durham
It was a dream start for the Niagara Knights men’s soccer team at the 2018 OCAA Men’s Soccer Championship — but it didn’t last long.
The Knights snapped back to reality with a loss to a Humber Hawks team that scored seven unanswered goals. Humber knocked the Knights out of medal contention taking the OCAA quarter-final matchup 7-1 at Esther Shiner Stadium in Toronto.
Rookie sensation and OCAA All-Star Oti Frigole of St. Catharines opened the scoring for Niagara just 90 seconds into the match. Frigole snuck past a defender on a misplayed ball and slid a shot past the Humber goalkeeper to grab the early lead. The Knights hung onto the lead until the final play of the first half, when Humber’s Jaineil Hoilett scored on a penalty kick to even the game after 45 minutes.
It didn’t take long for Humber to establish themselves in the second half, knocking
home a cross just inside the box to provide for a 2-1 lead. The Hawks would add another one 20 minutes later before an onslaught saw Humber add four goals in a 16minute stretch. Frigole was named player of the game for the Knights.
The Knights will now have to regroup quickly and take on the loser of the OCAA quarter-final between Fanshawe and UTM in the consolation semifinal tomorrow at 9 a.m.
The women’s team dropped a 2-1 decision to the Durham Lords at in their first trip to the OCAA provincial championship.
All three goals were scored off headers from corner kicks.
“We were all disappointed with the loss because we as a group have high expectations,” coach Rob Lalama said. “Playing in this tournament against the other top teams in Ontario is what our program needs to develop further. We know every game is going to be a battle and we look forward to it.
“Playing in this tournament against the other top teams in Ontario is what our program needs to develop further. We know every game is going to be a battle and we look forward to it.”
Durham scored first in the 20th minute taking the lead. The Lords’ second goal came minutes into the second half. Niagara’s player of the match, goalkeeper Alexis Hebert, kept her team in the game.
With 10 minutes remaining, Kara Latham’s corner kick found the head of Michelle Maecker to pull Niagara within one, but the Knights couldn’t net the equalizer.