NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Purple Eagles men’s soccer team were faced with a tough test hosting the 2015 MAAC runners-up, the Monmouth Hawks, on Saturday afternoon. Although the chances were distributed evenly throughout the match, it was a goal in the tenth minute by Monmouth’s Dave Nigro that was the difference-maker, as the Purple Eagles fell 1-0 at Niagara Field.
Monmouth dictated the offensive tempo early in the contest. Steve Casey denied Monmouth’s first shot on goal in the sixth minute by Jake Areman, but the Hawks struck on their second shot of the afternoon. From the left wing, Monmouth’s Miguel Alves fed a crossing pass right to the front of the goal, where Dave Nigro was waiting to head in his fourth goal of the season. The Purple Eagles found a pair of chances to tie the game off of set pieces later in the first half. Mbongeni Tshuma headed a corner from Konrad Zydowicz just high of the goal in the 21st minute. Niagara found three stellar chances in a five-minute stretch late in the first half, but could not beat Monmouth goalkeeper Eric Klenofsky. Navid Rahman had a chance to finish a crisp passing play off the rush from Tshuma and Sergio Lujan, but his shot sailed wide near-side. Shiquan Lowe angled a header off a Konrad Zydowicz corner kick to the bottom right corner, but was denied on the chance. Tshuma came right back just past the 39-minute mark, and he too was turned away by Klenofsky.
Zydowicz had both of Niagara’s shots on goal in the second half, but could not find the back of the net on either. The senior back ripped a 30-yard shot from the left wing low to the far side, but Klenofsky sprawled out to make the save. Less than two minutes later, Zydowicz bent a corner kick from the right of the goal to the near side, but that too was swallowed up for the save. Borna Juracic had the last chance of the game for Niagara in the 88th minute, but he had a shot from 10 yards out blocked by a Monmouth defender.
Head coach Bill Boyle said, “In spite of the loss, I am proud of the effort we put in against a very strong Monmouth team. We wanted to get into double-digit shots and increase our chances, and we accomplished that. The next step is figuring out how to convert those chances, but we are heading in the right direction.”
Niagara heads out on a two-game road trip next week, starting Wednesday at Saint Peter’s (3 p.m. start) and concluding Oct. 15 at Fairfield (7 p.m. start). The Purple Eagles return to Niagara Field on Oct. 22 to face the Iona Gaels in a 7 p.m. match.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
