September 19, 2022...WELLAND - The Niagara College Knights recorded their first win of the 2022-2023 season Friday night at home in a 3-1 win over Lambton College.
The Knights opened the scoring early with co-captain and veteran forward Noah DiEgidio capitalizing on a beautiful cross from Sebastian Reed to put the Knights up 1-0 at 4:35 of the first half. The Lions continued to apply pressure to try and get one past Knights keeper Vinson Notarianni and finally broke through midway through the first half on a goal by Ayo Osho to even things up at one-a-piece.
Less than five minutes after Lambton's tying goal, Niagara was awarded a penalty kick with Issac Dewaar putting one past the Lions keeper to give the Knights the 2-1 edge heading into the second half.
Travis Korten would add a third blue and white goal midway through the second half for some insurance, and they held on for the 3-1 win, their first of the season.
For head coach Frank DeChellis, the win marked more than just a check in the win column.
"Working with a young team is always fun for the coaches," said DeChellis fresh off his team's win. "You don't always get the results you want but when you do it makes it more special. We started seven rookies tonight and they worked hard, played intelligently and enjoyed the experience. We never take Lambton lightly. They are well coached and ruin somebody's season every year. They came in fresh off a win vs Mohawk and only gave us 5 minutes to enjoy our 1-0 lead. The way the guys responded after losing the lead showed us they checked off another box on their list of characteristics to develop in their college soccer journey."
DeChellis was also inspired by his goal scorers Friday night.
"All goals are special, but I appreciated tonight's especially. Noah (DiEgidio) has not registered a goal since pre-pandemic play in 2019, we gave rookie Isaac (DeWaard) the penalty kick to register his first college goal, but Travis' goal was a relief after hitting posts and crossbars last season. His blast from the far corner of the penalty area that went just under the crossbar was a great treat for the home fans. Heck, we all went crazy on that one."
For DiEgidio, it felt good to end his scoring drought and be able to contribute to his team's first victory this season.
"That was a great way to get our first win of the season. We came together as a team after conceding that goal and elevated our game instead of panicking. We continue to realize we have better success when we keep the ball on the carpet. For me personally, I was happy to score after a long drought. Sebastian (Reed) played a perfect ball from the wing and I managed to put it past the keeper."
The Knights were left without starters Joel Marinas and Christian Buccella, giving third-year defender Simon Silverio and rookie Ariel Romero a chance to shine in the back half.
"The team was inspired tonight by the play of Simon Silverio and Ariel Romero who both gave us a textbook 90 minutes at the centre-back position," said DeChellis. "Our two usual centre-backs were missing tonight and we shifted those two in from their usual positions. We are enjoying the feeling of having four competent centre-backs on our roster."
Romero enjoyed the experience of a change of position.
"Playing centre-back for 90 minutes was a good experience. It's a very busy position and always a different situation, which makes it more enjoyable. The guys played a great game, moved the ball well and played very well as a unit. We are happy to have our first win of the season."
The Knights now sit at 1-2 and look ahead to their match against Sheridan Wednesday night at home. The Knights dropped a 7-0 decision to the Bruins back on September 13th, and will look to secure a win against the 2-0-1 Bruins. Kick-off is set for 8:00pm at Youngs Sportsplex.
