BUFFALO, N.Y. - The Niagara men's soccer team (8-3-2, 2-1-0 MAAC) scored a 4-0 victory over cross-town rival Canisius (5-8-1, 1-2-0 MAAC) on Saturday at the Demske Sports Complex. The victory gave Niagara an early 2-0 advantage in the third annual Battle of the Bridge Competition.

Freshman Carl Haworth (Barrie, Ont.) and senior Matthew Durand (Melbourne, Australia) each recorded a pair of goals and one assist in the win, while senior goalie John Fiutowski (Ottawa, Ont.) registered his fourth shutout of the season, making seven saves.

"It was a hard fought game against a tough team tonight," Niagara head coach Dermot McGrane said. "I thought that we missed on a few chances in the first half, but the guys kept their composure and played a strong second half."

After a back-and-forth beginning to the contest, the scoring started in the 37th minute when Durand feathered a laser through the Golden Griffin defense from almost 75 yards out to Haworth. The freshman forward slid by the final Canisius defender and fired his shot into the upper right corner for a 1-0 lead. Fiutowski made a save on Canisius' lone shot on goal in the half, and the Purple Eagles took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

Haworth continued the scoring in the second half in the 70th minute when he took a pass from Levi Tesch (Wolcott, N.Y.) just outside the top of the box and sent another rocket on goal, this time beating Adam Miller toward the top left corner.

In a four minute span in the final 10 minutes of the contest, Durand added a pair of tallies to finalize the scoring at 4-0. Nick Lippa (Rochester, N.Y.) sent a cross to the right post and Durand flipped it past Miller in the 81st minute. Haworth sent a long ball toward the goal just three minutes later and Durand fought through a Golden Griffin defender before beating the goalkeeper for his 10th goal of the year.

Fiutowski, who leads the nation in saves, made six stops in the second half to thwart any possible late Canisius rally before the final two tallies.

The Purple Eagles hit the road for a pair of MAAC matches next weekend, at Siena on Oct. 24 and at Marist on Oct. 26.