Northern Essex soccer extended their win streak to three with a 6-3 win on Oct 3rd over Roxbury Community college’s Tigers. The win improves their record to (6-4-2) this season. Roxbury is winless (0-7).  

Four minutes into the match Kaleb Gianini of Lowell, MA found the back of the net on an to put The Knights on top 1-0 early. After Gianini’s goal, The Tigers locked down defensively holding The Knights scoreless stopping six shots on goal. 

The offense finally broke through at the 40-minute mark with a goal by Jadiel Bonfim of Nashua, NH to go up 2-0.Bonfim stretched the lead with a goal, into the left side of the net assisted by Johnathon Diaz of Methuen, MA. The Knights extended their advantage when Bonfim connected with Nikos Kakavitsas of Athens, Greece 4-0. NECC wouldtake that lead into the break. 

The Tigers chipped away at the deficit by scoring on a breakaway goal 15 minutes into the second half. The Knightswasted no time responding when Bonfim scored just one minute later. with his third goal of the night to complete a hat trick. In the waning minutes of the game Roxbury buried a goal 6-3. 

Bonfim recorded a hat trick and his sixth goal of the season. Diaz collected two assists and his eighth goal of the season. Kakavitsas’ goal was his first of the season. Goaltender Will Paganini. of Derry, NH picked up the win andmade four saves on seven shots. 

The victory keeps The Knights (6-4-2) in first place of region 21 and unbeaten in conference play (3-0-1) 

In Northern Essex’s first home turf match, The Knights (5-0) claimed a win over Roxbury community college on Sept 16th. They breezed past Roxbury in three best of five sets by scores of 25-3, 25-4 and 25-10 at the fitness center. 

Vielika Sanchez and Abigail Heredia, both of Lawerence, led NECC in points with 14 and 13 respectively. Sanchez tallied 7 aces as well. 

Defensively, outside hitter Chantel Melgan of Lawerence, MA recorded seven digs. 

Right side hitter and setter, Telaviv Nunez of Lawerence, MA put The Knights on the board 1-0 assisted by middle blocker Margo Martinez in set one. After falling behind 3-2, The Knights went on a 16-1 run to lead 18-3. A lead they wouldn’t relinquish. 

The third and final set was a closer affair. With a 14-5 Knights advantage RCC closed the gap collecting five points 14-9. However, The Knights finished the match with an 11-1 run for the 25-10 set. Heredia delivered the dagger with a kill for the victory. 

Northern Essex soccer extended their win streak to three with a 6-3 win on Oct 3rd over Roxbury Community college’s Tigers. The win improves their record to (6-4-2) this season. Roxbury is winless (0-7).  

Four minutes into the match Kaleb Gianini of Lowell, MA found the back of the net on an to put The Knights on top 1-0 early. After Gianini’s goal, The Tigers locked down defensively holding stopping six Knights shots on goal. 

The offense finally broke through at the 40-minute mark with a goal by Jadiel Bonfim of Nashua, NH to go up 2-0. Bonfim stretched the lead with a goal, into the left side of the net assisted by Johnathon Diaz of Methuen, MA. The Knights extended their advantage when Bonfim connected with Nikos Kakavitsas of Athens, Greece 4-0. NECC would take that lead into the break. 

The Tigers chipped away at the deficit by scoring on a breakaway goal 15 minutes into the second half. The Knights wasted no time responding when Bonfim scored just a minute later with his third goal of the night and complete a hat trick. In the waning minutes of the game Roxbury buried a goal 6-3. 

Bonfim recorded a hat trick and his sixth goal of the season. Diaz collected two assists and his eighth goal of the season. Kakavitsas’ goal was his first of the season. Goaltender Will Paganini. of Derry, NH picked up the win and made four saves on seven shots. 

The victory keeps The Knights (6-4-2) in first place of region 21 and (3-0-1) in conference play. 

The Knights Volleyball defeated Holyoke in three sets on Sept 23 at the fitness center. Northern Essex claimed the three-set victory over Holyoke by scores of 25-12, 25-9 and 25- 9. The win improves The Knights record to (8-0). Meanwhile Holyoke will remain winless at (0-7). 

NECC started the match on a 6-0 run. Holyoke whittled down the deficit by picking up two points, 6-2. From there The Knights went on a 6-2 run to lead 12-4 and never looked back.  

The Knights carried their momentum into the second set rattling off 11 straight points. A service error by NECC ended the run. NECC went on a 5-2 runto grow their lead 18-5. A 5-0 run ended with another service error 22-5. Holyoke started a brief rally grabbing three points 22-8 but The Knights never let go of the rope closing out the set with a 3-1 run. 

The decisive third set began with an 8-3 run by The Knights. Each team traded points that resulted in a narrow Knights two-point edge at 9-7. NECC pulled away with a 9-0 run to gain a 18-7 advantage over Holyoke. A 7-2 run closed out the set and match. 

Abigail Heredia and Telaviv Nunez both of Lawerence, MA carried the offense with 13 kills on twenty-three total attempts and 12 kills on 20 attempts, respectively. Nunez added a team high 12 points as well. On defense, outside hitter Chantel Melgen of Lawerence, MA tallied six total digs. 

Knights’ goaltender Will Paganini of Derry, NH was named the week four NJCAA goalie of the week on Oct 3rd.  

The freshman’s strong performance helped lead The Knights to a pair of victories that week. One was a 5-0 win against Quinsigamond and the second a 6-1 victory over Bristol. Paganini made a combined nine saves on 10 shots and recorded a shutout, his second of the season.