Annie Ibey nets winner as Purple Eagles defeat Bonnies in overtime

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Freshman forward Annie Ibey was the hero as the Purple Eagles defeated Little 3 rival St. Bonaventure, 1-0, in overtime on Sunday.
 
SYNPOSIS 
The Purple Eagles dominated possession in a game that featured few scoring chances. Niagara controlled the first half, but the Bonnies had a short spell of possession in the second half which nearly saw the host score. The Purple Eagles switched their tactics in overtime which set up the game-winning goal in the 98^th minute.
 
MOMENTS

• Kelsey Araujo, who finished with a game-high five shots, had a pair of close efforts in the 15^th and 16^th minutes.
• Selena Mangoni ripped a shot inside of the box that went over the crossbar as time expired in the first half.
• St. Bonaventure’s Sydney Cerza close range effort smashed off the crossbar in the 67^thminute.
• In the 76^th minute, the Purple Eagles had a free kick. Ashley LoFranco was on the end of it, but her shot skipped wide of the far post.
• In overtime, Hailey Bicknell’s free kick just outside of the box sailed over the cross bar in the 93^rd minute.
• In the 95^th minute, Mangoni cleared on a shot off the line on a SBU corner kick.
• Niagara scored the winner three minutes later. The Purple Eagles pressed the Bona backline which forced a turnover. Araujo slipped a pass to Annie Ibey inside the box and the freshman beat the keeper with a shot far post.

 
EAGLES’S EYE ON…

• Annie Ibey scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season. She leads the team with 10 points on the season.
• Kelsey Araujo recorded her second assist on the season which ties a career-best.
• Shania van Nuland made three saves in her first shutout of the season.
• Breanne Guevara, Hadley Bucken, and van Nuland played the entire game.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Niagara improves to 2-0-0 in overtime this season. The last time Niagara has won two overtime games was in 2012.
• The Purple Eagles conclude non-conference play with a 4-3-0 record to finish with a winning non-conference record for the second straight season.
• Niagara won its first game on the road this season.
• Niagara has three shutouts on the season, including the last two games.

 
COACH’S CORNER

• “This was a great win today! To go on the road and beat a rival is always a great result. At times today we dominated, but just couldn’t capitalize. I was really happy to see how we remained focus in overtime and found a way to win it.” – head coach Peter Veltri

 
UP NEXT

• The Purple Eagles start MAAC play at Iona on Saturday, September 15 at 11 a.m.

---

All WNY is made possible thanks to coffee and sleep deprivation.
We appreciate your readership. We like money, too.