FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Niagara men’s soccer team did what no other Purple Eagle squad has been able to do. Niagara’s 3-2 win over Fairfield on Sunday afternoon marked the first time in the program’s history that NU has defeated the Stags. Prior to the win, Niagara was 0-18-0 all-time against Fairfield. With the win, its second-straight, Niagara improves to 4-7-2 and evens its conference record at 2-2-1, while Fairfield falls to 8-4-2 (3-2-1 MAAC).

"This was a great weekend for us," head coach Dermot McGrane said. "To come away from home and get two wins against two good opponents is a great accomplishment. I felt we played well today and deserved to win."

Junior Matthew Durand (Melbourne, Australia) scored all three of Niagara’s goals, giving the forward his first career hat trick and the first three-goal performance by a Purple Eagle this season. The last time an NU player scored three goals in a game was Sept. 13, 2006, when Matt Stedman notched three tallies in a 4-3 win over Cleveland State.

Niagara’s day didn’t start off on the best foot however, as NU fell behind just five minutes into the game when Fairfield’s Jean Faucet sent in a cross that a Purple Eagle defender tried to clear, but the errant clearance ended up in Niagara’s goal.

The Purple Eagles pulled themselves together and Durand notched the first of his three goals at the 16:37 mark of the first half when he found himself alone with Fairfield’s goalkeeper, Matt Cleveland, who elected to challenge Durand near the top of the box. Durand touched the ball around Cleveland and slotted it into the back of the goal to tie the game at 1-1.

After a fairly evenly-matched first half, Fairfield took the lead a few minutes into the second frame when the Stags’ Sam Bailey beat NU’s Jason Whitehead (Middletown, N.Y.) at the 47:36 mark. Fairfield knocked a long ball into the penalty area that bounced around a bit before Bailey was able to hit a 12-yard volley putting the Stags up 2-1. Whitehead, making his second consecutive start in goal, had to leave the game in the 74th minute after suffering a shoulder injury. He recorded two saves before being replaced by sophomore John Fiutowski (Ottawa, Ont.), who added a save in a little more than 16 minutes of action.

With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, Niagara evened the score at 2-2. Freshman Levi Tesch (Wolcott, N.Y.) chipped a ball over the Stags’ defense. Fairfield’s Cleveland came out to collect the ball, but Durand was able to flick it over the goalkeeper and knock it into the open goal.

Durand’s game-winner came less than two minutes later when junior Zach Scholla (Angelica, N.Y.) got his head on a throw in and redirected it toward Durand at the back post. Durand made no mistake on his shot, volleying the ball into the back of the net. With his three goals, Durand now has a team-leading 12 points on the season.

The Purple Eagles return to face Saint Peter’s and Manhattan next weekend in the team’s final homestand.