Head coach Dermot McGrane leads Niagara into its first MAAC Tournament appearance ever. |
On the Line
The No. 4 seeded Niagara University men’s soccer team, making its first appearance ever in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships, will face off against No. 1 seeded Fairfield Friday at 6 p.m. at Lessing Field on the campus of Fairfield University in Fairfield, Conn.
Three times in tournament history has the No. 4 seed reached the championship game. In 1996, Fairfield (3-3-2) trumped the No. 1 seed Canisius (4-1-2), 1-0 in overtime before falling to No. 2 Loyola (5-2-0), 2-0, in the final game.
In 2000, Marist made history by becoming the first No. 4 seed to win it all. The Red Foxes (5-4-0) topped No. 1 seed Loyola (9-0-0), 2-1, in the semifinals, before taking down No. 3 Fairfield (7-2-0), 3-2, in double-overtime.
Most recent was last season’s upset of Rider (5-4-0) knocking off No. 1 Loyola (9-0-0), 3-1, before losing the final to No. 3 Marist (6-3-0), 2-0.
"Stagsfright"
In 15 meetings between Niagara and Fairfield, the Purple Eagles have come up short every match. On Oct. 28 at Lessing Field, Niagara was held to just four shots, zero on goal, in a 1-0 loss. The Purple Eagles were unable to get a shot on goal against the MAAC’s leader in shutouts, Andrew Frankel, who had six in 18 games. Vasilis Androutsos knocked in the game-winning goal for the Stags at the 29:14 mark.
A Historic Season
The Purple Eagles joined the North Division of the MAAC in 1989. Sixteen seasons later, Niagara is making its first-ever appearance in the MAAC Tournament.
The Purple Eagles’ nine wins this season are the most since the 1988 season, when Gus Campbell led the team to a 9-8-2 record in his fourth season as head coach.
With a 5-4-0 conference record this season, head coach Dermot McGrane’s squad tied the program record for most conference wins in a season. In his first year at the helm (2002), McGrane guided the Purple Eagles to a 5-3-1 record, missing the MAAC Tournament by a single point.
Only twice before has a men’s soccer team had as successful of a season at home as this season’s team. At 5-2-0 this season, it is just the fourth time the Purple Eagles have finished with a record at home better than .500 in 21 years on record. This is just the third season a team has won five games at home and never before has a team finished with more than five.
