The Niagara College Knights men’s soccer team saw its Ontario Colleges Athletic Association season come to an end with a 3-1 road loss to the Conestoga Condors in qualifying action.

Kyle Hannon scored the lone goal for the Knights on an assist from Altin Ibrahimi.

“I am proud of the boys. Regardless of the gap between our respective season statistics, we went into that game with the expectation of winning and we are heartbroken over the loss,” Knights head coach Frank DeChellis said. “This season was a matter of keeping the program moving forward while waiting for bodies to heal and all be ready at the same time. It finally happened just as the season ended.”

Joel Mariñas, Kylar Lampman and Victor Kariuki were spectacular in supporting keeper Sean Darracott and Azdren Ibrahimi and Nate Smyth proved effective on the flanks, both attacking and defending.

“We had close calls in their box at 1-0 and 2-0 that would have changed the game and those moments are what makes sports so exciting. As a coach, moments that don’t pan out resemble death by a thousand cuts.”

WOMEN’S SOCCER

Niagara women’s soccer team was also ousted in qualifying action, falling 6-0 to the St. Clair Saints.

“We began the game very flat and never were able to get things going. Taking nothing away from St. Clair who were awesome,” Niagara head coach Rob Lalama said. “We knew it would be a challenging season with 14 new players coming in. We improved as the season went on with draws against two top teams in Redeemer and Mohawk. The rebuild of our program continues as we look to strengthen our lineup in the offseason with good recruiting.”

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