Siena: Live Video | Live Stats
Monmouth: Live Video | Live Stats

The Niagara men's soccer team heads home after a three-match road trip to host the Siena Saints and Monmouth Hawks this week. The Purple Eagles look to improve on their 1-1 conference record in a 3 p.m. kickoff against Siena on Wednesday. Niagara won their first conference match this season against Quinnipiac in a 1-0 overtime victory, before falling on the road 2-0 at Rider.
 
Last Time Out

• In its second conference match of the season, Niagara fell to last year's MAAC champions and current conference leaders Rider 2-0.
• The Purple Eagles' held the game scoreless in the first half with goalie Steve Casey coming up big on a flurry of chances throughout the early minutes of the game.
• Casey stopped two quality chances by the Broncs within the first 13 minutes of the game and continued his strong outing throughout the half as Niagara was pounded with 14 shots against while only recording one themselves.
• The Broncs finally broke through early in the second half with a goal eight minutes into the half and then striking again 15 minutes later in the 68th minute.
• After Casey made another stop a minute after the Broncs doubled their lead, the Niagara defense stepped up and only allowed one more shot in the last 20 minutes of the contest.
• The Purple Eagles were limited in their opportunities in front of goal, managing only three shots throughout the game with their best chance coming in the 79th minute off the foot of junior forward Sergio Lujan.
• Casey made six saves, a season-high for him in net.

 
Purple Points

• The Purple Eagles are ranked fourth in the conference in scoring defense, allowing just 1.18 goals per game. Niagara's 11 total goals against ranks third in the MAAC.
• Steve Casey is tied for second in the MAAC with three shutouts this season.
• Niagara's attack has been well disciplined in their runs forward, only being called for offsides five times this season, a conference low.
• Freshman Mackenzie Roach leads Niagara in scoring with five points (two goals, one assist) through nine games. Fellow rookies Absalom Solorio Villalpando and Mbongeni Tshuma, sophomore Bautista Pedezert, and senior Konrad Zydowicz all have one goal and one assist in 2016.

 
Across the Pitch: Siena Saints (3-5-2, 1-0-0 MAAC)

• Siena are coming into Wednesday's match on a two-game winning streak, with the latter of the two coming against conference foe Fairfield, 2-1.
• Junior Alexander Tejera and freshman Matt Crisafulli lead the team with three goals each, which also ranks them both in a tie for seventh most in the conference.
• Junior goalkeeper Aleksa Radosavljevic ranks second in the MAAC in saves (43) and third in saves per game (4.60).
• Last year, Niagara fell to Siena 2-0 in Loudonville off of two second half goals.
• Niagara's defense held strong in a match that was dominated offensively by Siena but gave up two goals in the last 12 minutes of play to stymie their defensive efforts.

 
Across the Pitch: Monmouth Hawks (2-5-2, 1-1-0 MAAC)

• Niagara hosts their Alumni Weekend matchup against Monmouth at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
• The Hawks, who finished 2015 as the MAAC runners-up, won their first MAAC match of the season 2-1 over Manhattan on Sept. 27 before falling 1-0 to Saint Peter's on Oct. 1.
• Monmouth plays fellow New Jersey school Rider on Wednesday before coming to Niagara over the weekend.
• Dave Nigro leads Monmouth in scoring with nine points on three goals and three assists, while Colin Stripling has four goals.
• Monmouth defeated Niagara in a high-flying match last season by a score of 5-3. Sergio Lujan scored two goals for the Purple Eagles in that contest.

 
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