NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - The men's soccer team was (7-3-2) in fine shape as they defeated MAAC foe Rider (1-9-2) via a 7-1 score in front of 250 fans at Niagara Field on Sunday afternoon. Senior Eric Brodfueher (Tonawanda, N.Y.) and freshman Carl Haworth (Barrie, Ont.) had hat-tricks for the Purps.

Haworth and Brodfuehrer led the charge against the Broncs, as both scored two goals in the first period, followed by the hat-trick clinching goals within the last 10 minutes of the game. Brodfuehrer now has six goals on the year, a new single-season record for the forward.

Purple Eagles head coach Dermot McGrane was very pleased with his team's offensive output today.

"It's unusual to have two players score hat-tricks in the same game, but Eric and Carl worked very hard today and deserved everything they got," McGrane said.

The game started off rather slow until Brodfuehrer would put Niagara in the lead, one that they would never relinquish, in the 23rd minute. Senior Matt Durand (Melbourne, Australia) was running into the box, when he sent a crisp pass to Brodfuehrer for the tap in and the 1-0 lead. Just four minutes later, sophomore Levi Tesch (Wolcott, N.Y.) ripped a shot, as the rebound trickled just behind the keeper, where Brodfuehrer buried it for the 2-0 lead.

Niagara was in full swing, as 38 seconds later, Haworth added his first of the game, after a Tesch outlet pass. The speedy freshman would receive another great pass from Zach Scholla (Angelica, N.Y.) about 90 seconds later, which Haworth would put in the back of the net for a 4-0 lead. Rider's Nico Tramontana would score before the end of the half, but Niagara had the momentum leading 4-1.

With the second half just three minutes old, Niagara struck again. Billy Gustafson (Rochester, N.Y.) would hit Tesch with a pass, which Tesch looped over the keeper for a 5-1 Niagara lead. Things were quiet until Brodfuehrer clinched his hat-trick in the 82nd minute, scoring on a tic-tac-toe pass from Tesch. With the score 6-1 and the clock nearing zero, Haworth would clinch his hat-trick after a nice feed from Tesch, scoring with one second left on the clock.

Tesch finished with a goal and four assists on the day.

"This was a very mature performance from our team today," McGrane said. "I felt that we possesed the ball very well and we were patient in our attack."

The Purple Eagles are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 18, against cross-town rival Canisius, in a Battle of the Bridge match.