October 9, 2021..WELLAND - The Niagara College men's soccer team finished third in the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) South division with a 4-1 loss to the Redeemer Royals Friday night.
The previously winless Royals jumped out to a 4-0 lead and handed host Niagara its second loss in a row in men's college soccer despite being outshot 17-8.
"We outplayed them handily and lost 4-1," said a disappointed head coach Frank DeChellis.
"The positive things that transpired in training leading up the to the match and the early chances in the match makes the loss even tougher to swallow. This is going to cost everybody a few nights sleep for sure. Football is a cruel sport in that respect, but you need to finish your chances or you give the other team hope."
Liam Mitchell put the Knights on the scoreboard 75:43 into the game.
Niagara, which blanked the Royals 1-0 on the road open the season series, ends the regular season third in the South Division with a 2-4 record.
Next Saturday, the Knights will be in Windsor playing St. Clair, second, west; in a cross-over qualifier.
"We look forward to our first playoff game," said DeChellis. "We do a lot of things extremely well and we know what works for us. The guys are a positive, hardworking bunch who work hard for each other and I fully expect them to move forward from that loss and represent themselves well on Saturday. The coaches love this team for that reason alone."
