Senior midfielder Jeff Boyle had a goal in Niagara's 2-0 victory.

NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – The Niagara University men’s soccer team (2-9-1, 2-2-0 MAAC) evened its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference record with a 2-0 win over Iona College (5-7-3, 2-3-1 MAAC) Friday at Mazzella Field on the Iona campus.

The Purple Eagles faced a barrage of shots from the Gaels in the game, 24 total shots taken by Iona in the contest, but were victorious thanks to an excellent team effort put forth on defense.

"I thought we put in a great defensive effort in beating a very good Iona team," head coach Dermot McGrane said.

Giving up goals early into the game or late in the first half has plagued the Purple Eagles thus far into the 2003 season. In 11 contests prior to Friday’s victory, Niagara has allowed a goal either in the first 10 minutes of the game or last five minutes of the first half on six occasions (more than 25 percent of the 21 goals allowed). Against Iona, it seemed the tables were reversed.

Just two minutes into the game, senior defender Michael Burger (Logansport, Ind.) headed in a corner kick by sophomore defender Mark Spooner (Derby, England) to give the Purple Eagles an early 1-0 lead. The goal by Burger was his third in two games and it seemed to breathe new life into the Purple Eagles. According to McGrane, Niagara continued to control the flow of play the first 25 minutes of the contest, combining well and moving the ball as a unit.

Iona increased pressure on Niagara in the second half, evident by the 13 shots at the Niagara net following halftime, but failed to penetrate the Purple Eagles defense.

With just three minutes remaining in the game, senior midfielder Jeff Boyle (East Amherst, N.Y.) took a pass from sophomore midfielder/defender Sasha Kaplun (Toronto) and fired a 30-yard shot into the upper corner of the Iona net, beating Gaels’ goalkeeper Patrick McAllen and seemingly putting the game away for the Purple Eagles. This was Boyle’s first goal of the 2003 season.

"It was nice to put a couple of goals in and come away with a shutout," McGrane said following the game.

In the game, Iona out shot Niagara, 24-6, with 14 shots on goal compared to Niagara’s four.

With help from the Niagara defense, junior goalkeeper Dan O’Shea (East Syracuse, N.Y.) made 13 saves for his second shutout of the season, fourth-career shutout. McAllen made two saves for the Gaels.

Niagara travels to Fairfield College for a 1 p.m. game at Alumni Stadium on the Fairfield campus Sunday.