Septemeber 27, 2021...Welland - The Niagara Knights men's soccer team fell 2-0 to the Sheridan Bruins on Saturday in what was the Knights first home game since 2019.
The first half saw both teams evenly matched throughout the half before the Bruins were awarded a penalty kick that saw Francis Ameyaw blast one by Knights goalkeeper Dawson Jordan (2nd year, Toronto)
Sheridan squeaked in another past Dawson just before the end of the fist half and go up 2-0.
The Knights seem to ramp up the intensity in the second half after only mustering up two shots in the first half, the blue and white hammered 10 at Sheridan keeper Ahmed Albachchee but were unable to get one by him.
The Bruins hung on for their third win to remain undefeated in the South division this season, while the Knights dropped to a 1-2 record.
Head coach Frank DeChellis chalks the loss up to a learning experience for his young team and knows there is work to be done if they want to progress past the regular season.
"Sheridan was the quickest team we've played so far and it gave our younger players a good learning experience. To match up with the top teams we need to be able to execute what we do well in the presence of the enhanced chaos brought on by better teams," said DeChellis. "Our chemistry is good and on-field cooperation is moving in the right direction, but if our guys want to keep spending time together we will need some tangible results to extend our season. We had to shuffle the deck a bit today to deal with what we saw in Sheridan games video. Some of our players are showing us versatility that is very useful to the team and makes them more available for playing time."
Keeper Dawson Jordan echoed DeChellis' thoughts.
"I thought our back three were very competent and defended very well," said Jordan. "They were hard done by a penalty call but overall I was very happy with their performance and the team's overall support."
The Knights will return home for a wednesday night match up with Mohawk College (2-1) at 8:00 pm. The Mountaineers and Knights last battled Tuesday september 21st when the Knights suffered a 5-1 loss.
