NIAGARA UNIV. — The Niagara men’s soccer team earned its first home win of the 2016 season with a gutsy win over the Manhattan Jaspers. Saiaz Saenz scored his second goal of the season with an assist from Fabrizio Chiari to give Niagara the 1-0 win Saturday afternoon at Niagara Field. Steve Casey earned his fourth clean sheet of the season in goal, making four stops against the Jaspers.
The Purple Eagles came out flying offensively to start the match, ending the first half with an 8-2 lead in shots. Zulfikar Karimi had the first chance of the game on a long shot from 20 yards out to the right of the goal, but his shot sailed over the goal. Seven minutes later, Bautista Pedezert had an opportunity from the same spot off of a set piece, but his shot went high as well. Niagara opened the scoring with a goal in the 36th minute from Saiaz Saenz. Fabrizio Chiari worked the ball in from the left sideline, finding Saenz streaking in on goal. Saenz beat the last Manhattan defender with speed, and his shot caught the inside of the right post far-side. Casey made a pair of saves to keep the Niagara lead at 1-0 through 45 minutes of play.
The Jaspers held possession for the majority of the second half, earning a 9-4 advantage in shots over Niagara. Manhattan’s Fabian Burnett took four of the Jaspers’ nine shots in the half, coming close to tying the game on a header in the 72nd minute that rang off the crossbar and over the net.
Chiari and Pedezert each put shots on goal in the second half for the Purple Eagles, but neither was able to find the back of the net. As time wound down on the second half, Manhattan’s Troy Carrington found a loose ball to the left of the Niagara goal. He got a shot off as the final seconds ticked down, but Borna Juracic blocked the ball away to seal the 1-0 win for the Purple Eagles.
Head coach Bill Boyle said, “I am so proud of these guys. With the effort they put in today, they deserved to get this win on their home field. We came out strong in the first half, and having that early start and getting that first goal was exactly what they needed. As a team, we feel that we have a lot of momentum going into Wednesday’s home match against Canisius.”
Niagara wraps up the regular season against the Canisius Golden Griffins at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The annual Battle of the Bridge match will also be Senior Night, and the team will honor Fabrizio Chiari, Shiquan Lowe, and Konrad Zydowicz prior to kickoff.
from PurpleEagles.com via IFTTT
