NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. — The Niagara Purple Eagles were held to a scoreless draw at the Siena Saints on Wednesday afternoon. The Purple Eagles remain undefeated in MAAC play and sit atop of the conference with seven points through three games.
SYNOPSIS:
Sophomore keeper Sabrina Locas’ career-high day helped Niagara extend its unbeaten streak to five games. The Lachine, Quebec native made a career-high 13 saves, including eight in the first half and three in overtime. The Saints had the better run of play in the first half, but Niagara created more scoring chances in the second half. Both teams had their chances in the overtime periods, but neither team found the back of the net.
MOMENTS:
- Sabrina Locas was busy in the first half as Niagara soaked up pressure. The Saints had 14 shots in the first half compared to five by Niagara.
- The Purple Eagles started the second half with numerous efforts on goal. Kelsey Araujo forced a save in the 54th minute and had a shot go over the bar in the 61st minute.
- There was a frenzy of action from the 69th to 71st minutes. Ida Miceli had her shot saved which led to a counter by the Saints as Siena’s Carrie Krohn had her shot saved by Locas.
- 55 seconds later, Selena Mangoni had her shot rattled off the post.
- Both teams had last gasp effort in the final minute of regulation to no avail.
- Annie Ibey had a few chances in the early minutes of overtime.
- In the 109th minute, Locas made her 13th and final save off of a shot coming from a corner kick.
- In the final seconds of overtime, Mangoni had her effort sail wide.
EAGLE’S EYE ON:
- Sabrina Locas’ career-high 13 saves are the most in the MAAC this season. She has three of Niagara’s five shutouts this season.
- Annie Ibey and Kelsey Araujo shared team-high marks in shots with five, while Ida Miceli had a team-high three shots on goal.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
The Purple Eagles had their four-game win streak snapped, which was their longest since 2015. However, the Purple Eagles are unbeaten in their last five games which is the longest streak since going undefeated in eight games in 2014.
COACH’S CORNER:
“I’m extremely proud of the effort we put forth today. Anytime you can steal points on the road in conference is a good result. It took us the first half to adjust to the wet grass field, but we played well in the second half and created some good chances. Defensively, we played extremely well today which helped us stay unbeaten in MAAC play.” – head coach Peter Veltri
UP NEXT:
The Purple Eagles return home, where they have won all four games this season, to host Quinnipiac on Saturday, September 29 at 1 p.m.
