BROOKLYN, N.Y. – After opening the season with two scoreless matches, the third time proved to be the charm for the Niagara men’s soccer team as it picked up its first win of the season Friday evening, defeating St. Francis, 1-0. The Purple Eagles improved to 1-2 on the season, while the Terriers fell to 2-2-1.

"This was a gutsy performance by the team," head coach Dermot McGrane said. "We showed a lot of character tonight to hold on late in the game when St. Francis was throwing a lot of players forward. Once we scored, we played smart and absorbed a lot of pressure."

Niagara created a few scoring chances in the first half, but it wasn’t until the second half that the NU offense really came together. Niagara’s game-winning goal came at the 54:09 mark off a Billy Gustafson (Rochester, N.Y.) throw-in that found junior Miles Patterson (Lansdale, Pa.) in the box. Patterson headed the ball to freshman Desmond Betteto (Sarnia, Ont.), who was set up just to the right of the penalty mark. Betteto’s shot found the inside of the left post giving the midfielder his first career goal.

The Purple Eagles nearly made it 2-0 in the 72nd minute when junior Matthew Durand (Melbourne, Australia) found himself alone against the Terrier goalkeeper, but his shot sailed over the bar.

After its goal, Niagara found itself under constant offensive pressure by the Terriers. Led by sophomore goalkeeper John Fiutowski (Ottawa, Ont.), Niagara turned back every St. Francis shot. The Terriers pushed several players into the attack, resulting in seven shots in the final 20 minutes of the game.

"In the final 20 minutes, John Fiutowski pulled out some amazing saves that helped us hold on to the win," McGrane said.

Fiutowski finished with eight saves, including a pair of acrobatic stops near the end of the match.

The Purple Eagles travel to Stony Brook, Sunday for a 3 p.m. match.