NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, N.Y. – After a grueling preseason training camp, the Niagara University men’s soccer team kicks off its season Sunday when it hosts Cleveland State at Niagara Field at 1 p.m.
Last year, Niagara finished second in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with a 5-1-3 record in league play and earned its second consecutive berth in the MAAC Tournament. In addition, Dermot McGrane earned MAAC Coach of the Year honors for the second-straight year.
This season, the squad looks to earn a victory in a season opener for the first time under McGrane. The last time a Purple Eagles’ team began the season with a win was 1988 when Niagara bettered SUNY Brockport, 2-0.
Although the Purple Eagles lost their top three scorers from last season, Niagara returns a solid corps of players led by junior defender Billy Gustafson (Rochester, N.Y.), who was named to the MAAC preseason team. An extremely young squad, Niagara will depend on the leadership of juniors Joe Skinner (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and Stephen Kauble (Canal Winchester, Ohio), both of whom saw action in every game last season. Additionally, 12 players will don a Niagara jersey for the first time this year, including freshman midfielder Levi Tesch (Wolcott, N.Y.), who is coming off a redshirt season in 2006. The Purple Eagles will also be bolstered by a pair of transfers in Anthony DiBiase (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Matthew Durand (Melbourne, Australia).
Cleveland State, which faces St. Bonaventure at home on Friday night, finished the 2006 season with a 6-10-2 record and a fifth-place finish in the Horizon League. The Vikings return nine starters from last year’s team, including sophomore George Kephart, who led the team in points with 12.
In last year’s meeting at Krenzler Field, Niagara defeated the Vikings, 4-3. The Purple Eagles held a 4-1 lead at the half before conceding two goals in the later stages of the game. Niagara is 2-3-2 all-time versus Cleveland State and is undefeated in its last three meetings, including in each of the last two years.
