On Saturday Oct. 8, NECC Knight dominated Bristol Community College Bay hawks 6 to 1 at home.

Assistant head coach Marcos Viera Filho was taken over for coach Eusebio Marote who did not attend in the game because he was sick.

“Momentum is actually key word,” Viera Filho said. “Something we going to talk about in our pre game talk right before kick off basically carried that momentum into our third potential win just keep it rolling,” he said before the game.  

Bay hawks are desperate and anxious for a win as they were winless 0-6 heading into Oct. 8 contest against the Knights.

Game time officially started at 12:03 pm.

The Knights didn’t waste no time scoring four goals in the first 18 minutes of the game.

Two goals from Fadi Serhan of Middletown and both assist of Serhan goal came from Sam De Amorim of Methuen.

De Amorim had two assist and a goal in a rout of 6-1 win on Saturday afternoon.

“I am glad that we took the win, I am glad that I help my team with two assist and one goal everyone here play really good and I’m happy about the result,” De Amorim said after the game.  

Ethan Mugwany of Haverhill scored the third goal of the game in the 12 minutes mark in a assist of Johnathan Diaz of Methuen.

Diaz in the 18 minutes mark make it 4-0 in favor of the Knights unassisted on the play.

In the 31 minutes mark Steve Sime of Haverhill increased their lead to 5-0.

In the first half the Knights had nine shots and  Bay Hawks zero shots on goal. The Knights also had four corner kick in the first half while Bay Hawks had one. The Knights had one foul and Bay hawks had zero. The Knights had two offside while Bay Hawks had one. No team had a yellow card Knights had one fouls and Bay Hawks 2. The Knights had two offside and Bay Hawks one.

I ask assistant coach Viera Filho how huge was having a five goal lead into the half ?

“Yeah it was big, but sometimes it’s a little worried because sometimes we might unconsciously  get the foot of the pedal but at least the guys keep it rolling and manage to put a couple goals in the second half so I am happy with that,” he said.

The Knights got ball first in the second half. 50 minutes into the game it came the sixth goal for the Knights it was De Amorim who scored who already had two assist in the ball game.

Jake Igoe of Haverhill in the 57 minutes was given a yellow card.

In the 85 minutes Nicolas Cordosa De Silva of Fall River who  scored on a penalty kick that broke the Knights shutout.

In the 89 minutes the referee gave  Guilherme Lisboa of Tauton  a yellow card.

The Knights had eight shots on goal while Bay hawks had seven. The Knights had two corner kicks and Bay hawks none. The Knights had four fouls while Bay Hawks had 6.  The Knights and Bay hawks both had two  offside a piece.

I ask assistant coach  Viera Filho, who took over Saturday contest for Coach Marote, about his first career managerial win.

“It feels good man, it feels good most important we got the win collectively as a team we got a lot of guys in there typically don’t get big minutes that’s the biggest part,” he said.

On Wednesday Oct. 05  NECC Knights lost three sets to none against NHTI in the Sport and Fitness Center in the Haverhill Campus.

Knights lost the first set 25-11, Knights lost the second set 25-20 and the third set 25-12.

The game officially started at 6:33 pm.

The last time NHTI faced the Knights NHTI defeated the Knights to begin the 2022 campaign.

The Knights started the first set weekly they were down 5-0 and 12-3 the Knights got into rhythm and were on a 6-1 run.

NECC Knights head coach Mike Pelosi of Haverhill called a timeout when the Knights was losing 17 to 9.

Kathleen Perez-Flores of Lowell had a few unbelievable save during the first set that prevented NHTI from scoring, but it wasn’t enough as NHTI defeated the Knight’s 25-11.

The Knights in the second set was having energy and put this game a good battle against NHTI. It was back and forth battle eventually the Knights had a three point lead over NHTI. That lead was washed away the NHTI tied the game and eventually took 11-9 lead.

The Knights was losing 22-19 and eventually they lost the second set 25-20.

On the third set the Knights was down early they were losing 7 to 4 but you can feel the energy that they had during the game. The Knights were down 12 to 6 during the game.

They were trying their best to still be in the game and to make it close, but the Knights didn’t succeed, they were down by 11 as the Knights were down 20 to 9. Eventually NHTI defeats the Knights on the third set and defeat the Knights in three straight set.

On Saturday, Oct. 1, the NECC Knights defeated Holyoke Community College three goals to one.  

I interviewed NECC Men’s Head Coach Eusebio Marote before the game. He mentioned to me, “usually we had their number the past couple of years, couple wins, but this year it looks (like) they had a different team, they just tied Roxbury not too long ago 3-3. They (are) going to be a competitive team so I think they’re going to fight, they’re going to work hard and yeah we (are) just going to try to match their level of intensity. We are at home hopefully that will help us in our advantage as well and you know go from there, “ he said.

I asked coach Marote if it was an advantage or a disadvantage for the Knights that they haven’t played for a week ?

“I think it’s a little bit of both definitely. I had some guys injured but it definitely helps for recovery and we prep a lot this week, we played a lot and went from there you know, he said.

Holyoke had the ball first to begin the game.

The Knights had two offsides the first eight minutes of the game.

Sam De Amorim of Methuen scored the first two goals of the game for the Knights.

“(De Amorim) is definitely huge for us. Last year when we recruited we expected for him to do this stuff for us and it’s something that we needed for last season. So he has been doing what he’s got to do, he is our type of guy and we go from there,” Marote said after the game.

De Amorim scored what would have been the third goal of the game, which would have been the score three to nil, with a hat trick, but the official waived the point off because the call on the field was offside. The goal did not count and the score remained two nil in favor of the Knights.

The Knights were up 2-0 at the half.

I interviewed De Amorim after the game. “It is really important, the other team when you win a half like that and the other team just tends to not believe as much, ”he said. “And then what happens with their team they had their heads down all the time for the second half and we were winning three nil. Unfortunately we got scored on but that didn’t affect us a lot so it was a really important win for us right now,” he said.

The Knights had three corner kicks while Holyoke had four. The Knights had nine shots on goal while Holyoke had three. The Knights also had three offside while Holyoke had none.

The Knights started the kick for the second half.

51 minutes into the game one of the Knights player kicked the ball and it hit right in the front of the face of the Holyoke goaltender. The trainer came and the goaltender was removed out of the game.

Johnathan Diaz of Methuen scored to made it 3-0 Knights.

On the 69  minutes of the game the referee give a yellow card to Knights goaltender Anhuar Ramos Garcia of Nashua, N.H, and a player of Holyoke as well.

Later on during the game Ramos Garcia made a nice save for the Knights, preventing from Michael Grochowski of Westfield from scoring.

On the 78 minutes Caden Hebert of Easthampton scored for Holyoke to make it 3-1 Knights as the shutout was over with just 17 minutes left.

In the second half the Knights had two corner kicks, Holyoke had none. The Knights had eight shots on goal and Holyoke had five. The Knights only had one offside in the second half, Holyoke had none. Both team had at least one  yellow card in the final 45 minutes of the game.

On Tuesday Sep. 27, the NECC Knights defeated Quinsigamond Community College Wyverns three sets to none. In the Sports and Fitness Center in Haverhill Campus.

The game was scheduled for 6 p.m. but the league changed it to 6:30 p.m. start time and the game officially started at 6:33.

The Knights won the first set 25-4, they won the second set 25-10 and the third set 25-12.

The Knights started the game aggressive, they had a few runs in the first set 7-1, 14-2 and a 18-3 run. The Knights completely embarrassed Wyverns in the first set as they won the set 25 to 4.

Knights captain Kathleen Perez-Flores of Lowell was serving and scored the first nine points to begin the second set.

“I’m well, yeah I was a little tired, I’m not going to lie I’m old. So I get a little tired but we played a very good game and we got the run that we needed to get and when we serve we will get runs,” she said.

The Wyverns had no chance to beat the Knights on Tuesday evening as the Knights were on a 21-7 run in the second set and it was enough to beat the Wyverns 25-10 and have a command two sets to none lead as the Knights were one set away to blank Wyverns.

The Knights were looking to defeat the Wyverns on back to back games as on Saturday the Knights went on the road to Quinsigamond and defeated the Wyverns three sets to none.

The Knights never lost their focus and were always in strong command as the Knights started the third set where they left off the first two sets. The Knights were on a 6-1 run and a 14-5 run as they defeated Wyverns in three straight sets.

After the game NECC Women’s Volleyball head coach Mike Pelosi of Haverhill said “I think it was a combination of things. I think we were communicating better, positioning was better in this game and definitely serving. I think the crowd realized that we were doing some serving committing the specific spots. I think we’re doing some of the fundamentals well. I think that our moral was high, that’s why we saw, I think the fact that we were up in score our main players feel better by themselves and that confident boast (helped them) to play a lot better,” he said.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, the NECC Knights defeated New Hampshire Technical Institute NHTI 3-0 at the Haverhill campus in Haverhill, Mass.

Before the game I asked NECC Soccer head coach Eusebio Marote how difficult is this short period, with opponents outscoring them 14-3 in the past three games combined, excluding opening day?

“Yeah, you know unfortunate the numbers are like that but at the end of the day we take it game by game and there’s nothing you can do about those games. So what we tried to do is start fresh every game and trying to get results,” he said.

Before the game the referee called the captains of both teams like they usually do before the game start for a coin toss to see who is going to get the first kick of the game.

Mission 22 it’s a group of people united in the war against veteran suicide. They were in attendance and for the national anthem before the game.

The game officially started at 12:02 p.m., one of the Knights soccer players hit a head shot to the goaltender of NHTI. Then the trainer had to come and check on the goaltender of New Hampshire Technical Institute, but he was all right.

The Knights had 6 shots on goals in the first 10 minutes of the game.

 The first goal of the game was own goal one of the NHTI player made it  to make it 1-0 Knights.

The second goal of the game by Sem Milambo of Lawrence was waived off, the call on the field was offside and as of result it was no goal and the game still remained 1-0.

The Knights had a few chances in the first period to try to blow this thing open quickly but they just couldn’t take advantage of the situation.

“Yeah, I think it could’ve been more but it is what it is regardless at the end of the day we keep it clean sheet and we won,” said Marote.

In the 38 minutes of the game Rayane Elmhklouk of Methuen  made it 2-0 Knights with an assist of Steve Sime of Haverhill.

The Knights had two corner kick and NHTI had none. The Knights had ten  shots on goal. NHTI also had one. The Knights had three fouls and NHTI one in the first half.

In the second half the Knights had two free kicks on two fouls in less then 10 minutes of action. with 25 minutes left in the second half the Knights had another free kick as one of the NHTI player touched the ball with his hand.

Alex Mutumbo from Concord, N.H.,  kicked a shot that it hit on top of the crossbar as they were looking to score the first goal of the game.

Fadi Serhan of Middletown made it 3-0 on his second goal of the game in the minute 71 with an assist of Sam De Amorim of Methuen.

The Knights  had two corner kicks and NHTI one. The Knights had nine shots on goal and NHTI had four. NHTI had five fouls and NECC had four.

Coach Morate and I talked a little bit about the win the Knights pick up against NHTI after the game?

“I think it’s big for our confidence you know three nil keeping it clean, it’s been huge for our goalie as well and overall just a good win you know. I think we could’ve put couple more in but can’t be too, selfish a win is a win,” he said.

I had a chance to interview NECC Knights goaltender Anhuar Ramos Garcia of Nashua. N.H., after the game we talked about how he boasted his confidence when his team strikes first. “My confidence came back high and I knew we could play more comfortable and stuff like that we also keep trying our best,” he said.

We also talked about that this was the first shutout win for the Knights this season “It feels good, I’m very happy it was a team win and everybody came on to play and I’m very happy for the win,” he said.

On Thursday, Sept. 22, Central Maine Community College defeated the NECC Knights three sets to none at the Sports and Fitness Center on the Haverhill campus in Haverhill, Mass.

The Knights lost the first set 25-13, the second set they lost 25-18 and the third set 25-22.

The game officially started at 6:02 p.m. with Mustangs getting the first point of the game.

The Knights started the game in a slow starts. They were down 10-2 when Coach Mike Pelosi of Haverhill decided to call a time out.

Central Maine was up 16 to 4, absolutely the Mustangs had the night number in the first set. The Knights were trying to rally at the end of the first set. The Knights went on a 5-1 run.

Central Maine won the first set 25 to 15 against the Knights.

Pelosi said “I think it was much of the same thing. Sloppy and positioning and our opponent is smart and skilled enough to take advantage of that. I will also add the second thought that something we have been improving… and you know I think that we were working on our mental process and we’re making progress and I think the players are appreciating the fact that they individually bounce back from situations … I think they are starting to notice the partner.”

On the second set the Knights were on a run. The Knights began the second set on a 10-3 run. The Knights had a good lead and I thought the way they were performing in the beginning of the second set with that lead that they had, that they would regroup and would win the second set. Eventually that wasn’t the case. The  Knights could not hold up that lead as the Mustangs came back to take the lead and eventually steal a set from the Knights, winning the second set 25-18.

I asked coach Pelosi what this team has to do to not give up the lead when they have a comfortable lead during the set?

“I think that it’s not going to matter unless if we do the fundamentals nothing is going to matter because our competition is you know the level of competition in the conferences this year it’s just too high so we can hustle all that we want, the captains can give great speeches but at the end of the day  were not in positioning, it’s not going to matter very much…” said Coach Pelosi.

The third set began with a a back and forth battle between the Knights and Mustangs. The Knights need to win that set in order to force a fourth set. The Knights had some issues in the line up serving they had the wrong server twice in that set. The Knights made it close, they made it interesting but it wasn’t enough as the Mustangs won the third set 25-22 and won the game three set to none.

After the game Coach Pelosi had a team meeting, the message that he told them was “… I felt like as a team we haven’t been playing clean volleyball in terms of positioning and in terms of some of the fundamental stuff. Players being in the right proper position, defensively, transitioning for their hitting spots and players communicating with one and another so this kind some fundamental things that my hope this point in the season we would’ve had it cleaned up… I guess the mindset getting the players in the mindset of things that they have to take this thing more seriously and they have to play like a team…” he said to me the next day when we had a phone interview.

On Tuesday Sept. 20, Community College of Rhode Island CCRI Knights defeated NECC Knights three sets to one at the Sports and Fitness Center in the Haverhill campus in Haverhill, Mass.

First set 25-16 NECC Knights lost, second set 25-13 NECC Knights lost, third set NECC Knights won 34-32 and the fourth set NECC Knights lost 25-23.

It was the home opener for the women’s volleyball team and it was also a rematch of the 2021 Region 21 finals.

They had a big crowd watching that game thanks to the men’s soccer team as soon as they finished their game against Roxbury. They went to the Sports and Fitness Center about 45 to 50 minutes from the start of the women’s volleyball game to cheer on for the NECC Knights.

NECC Women’s Volleyball head coach Mike Pelosi of Haverhill said after the game “I thought that was great. I really thought that I should probably thank them. I really appreciated them coming, it did make a difference. I think it was enjoyable for the players to have a crowd and I think they did a great job cheering, constructively it helped bring some energy in the court and I think obviously during the match we got some ups and downs and I think they help us getting some up swings with the momentum.

The game officially started at 6:47 p.m.

The Knights of NECC started the game on an 8-3 run before CCRI Knights decided to call a time out.

After the time out CCRI Knights went on a 7-0 run.

NECC head coach Pelosi called two timeouts in the first set to try to motivate his players and try to win that first set. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as the Knights lost the first set 25-16.

In the second set CCRI Knights started on a 4-0 run before the Knights of NECC finally cashed in and scored a point on the second set to make it 4 to 1. Then the Knights of NECC was losing 10 to 5 when coach Pelosi decided to use his first timeout of the second set.

The Knights lost the second set two games to none.

On the third set it was a classic battle between CCRI Knights and the Knights of NECC.

The NECC Knights were s looking to avoid getting shutout for the third time in five games.

The NECC Knights played more aggressively in the third set and arguably the best set that they ever had so far in this 2022 campaign.

The Knights were up 10 to 7, 15 to 14 and the game was tied at 22.

When the game is tied at 24, which indeed happened in the third set it was 24-24 one point in the game instead of 25, to win the set you must win by two points..

It was a back and forth battle. CCRI scored. NECC scored. It was like that set was never going to end. Instead finally the NECC Knights forced a set four and won the third set 34-32.

Coach Pelosi and I talked about how intense the third set was. “Yeah that was a terrific one I tell them a lot these teams are not easy teams, especially CCRI, the coach is great …. he knows his stuff and we have

to work, we are not getting any freebies this year we got to work for every single game and I think they got in a good competitive mindset… players are not going to play at their best if they don’t really believe they can win…” he said.

Coach Pelosi also believed winning the third set put pressure on CCRI for the forth set.

The Knights of NECC were up 13 to 9 in the fourth set and were taking advantage of the mistakes of CCRI. The Knights were up 21 to 17, they just needed four more points to force set five and possibly one of the biggest upset in the season. Instead CCRI came back. It was 23-23 at one point in the game and CCRI defeated NECC 25-23 in set four and won the game three set to one.

On Tuesday Sept. 20, Roxbury Community College defeated NECC Knights 3 to 1 in the Men’s Soccer home opener at the Haverhill campus in Haverhill, Mass.

Before the game I had a chance to interview NECC Soccer head coach Eusebio Marote and he gave me an injury update on Andrew Valdes of Lawrence who got injured in the previous match against Massasoit “Unfortunately we believe  that he might be out for the rest of the season…” he said.

The Knights won the coin toss against Roxbury which means the Knights would have the ball first.

The game officially started at 3:36 pm.

In the first half the Knights were playing good defense preventing Roxbury from scoring early in the game.

The Knights almost scored on a corner kick. Johnathan Diaz of Methuen kicked the ball, the ball in mid air Matheus Moreira of Dracut  headed  as the ball went over the net and the Knights did not scored.

In the 33 minutes of the game made it 1-0 Roxbury a goal of Isandro Lopes and an assist from Kervens Charles.

The Knights missed a few opportunities during the game where they could’ve tied the game and possibly taken the lead.

One minute later one of the Roxbury players left the game due to an injury.

Roxbury made it 2-0 in the 43rd minutes of the game. It was again Lopez with an assist this time by Ronilson Semedo.

In the first half the Knights had two corner kicks, Roxbury had three. The Knights had four shots on goal and Roxbury had one. The Knights had five fouls and Roxbury had four.

In the second half the Knights goaltender was complaining a little bit of a hip injury, but he managed to stay in the game.

In the 70 minutes of the game Sam De Amorim of Methuen made it 2 to 1. That goal was a relief for the Knights because with that goal it ended the Knights 290 minutes stretch without scoring a goal.

I had a chance to talk to De Amorim after the game. “It definitely good a lot of work to be [ done] and back into it tomorrow on practice and I feel great about scoring even though I’m coming off an injury and almost giving my team a tie here. It’s a tough loss, they are really good team and we (will be) back at it the next game for sure try to win the next game,” he said.

De Amorim almost scored his second goal of the game, which would have tied the game at 2, but he missed the game tying shot by inches as the ball curved.

Lopes scored a hat trick in the 81st minute as he was responsible for all three goals for Roxbury thanks to an assist of Jorgenson Delice.

In the second half the Knights had one corner kicks while Roxbury had two. The Knights and Roxbury both  had four shots on goal. The Knights had three fouls and Roxbury  had two fouls  meanwhile in the second half. The Knight’s had one yellow card and Roxbury had two.

There were fouls during the game and yellow card that the referee missed during the game.

“Yeah it’s a little frustrating, obviously when he is not making the right call in our opinion but at the end of the day everybody makes mistake… no matter what level it is. Even at the professional level obviously they have video review now in professional so it helps the ref and helps the teams but here obviously we don’t have video reviews so it’s kinda the ref to call…” Coach Marote said.