POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - The Niagara men's soccer team (11-6-3; 5-3-1 MAAC) hung tough against No. 6 Loyola (18-0-1; 9-0-0 MAAC), but eventually fell in defeat 3-0 in the MAAC semifinals held at Tenney Stadium on the campus of Marist College on Friday afternoon.  

"I thought we played well in the first half, creating chances against Loyola's defense," head coach Dermot McGrane said. "In the second half we made two mistakes and Loyola punished us for them."

The Purple Eagles pushed the tempo of the game early, creating several quality chances, which resulted in five shots and two corners, but no goals. With 21 minutes left in the first half, sophomore Levi Tesh (Wolcott, N.Y.) sent a looping pass into the box, which senior Eric Brodfuehrer (Tonawanda, N.Y.) kicked out of mid-air, only to have it sail just over the net. The Purps outshot the No. 6 team in the nation 11-4 in the first half, but went into the break scoreless.  

The second half saw Loyola up the offensive pace 13 minutes in with two shots right on target, but the shots were blocked by the Niagara defense. Niagara responded right back with a few chances, but both teams were still knotted at zero.

Loyola would eventually break through in the 62nd minute, with Niagara netminder John Fiutowski (Ottawa, Ont.) down from the initial save, Glenn Leitch buried the second chance to go up 1-0. Just three minutes later Brodfuehrer took a strong, curving shot from the right of the Greyhound keeper Milos Kocic, only for Kocic to make a diving save and deny Niagara the equalizer.

The Greyhounds would double their lead when Phil Bannister capitalized on a Purple Eagle mistake, which he put into the left corner of the net in the 68th minute. Loyola would add one more in the 86th minute, to go up 3-0.

The Purple Eagles finish the season 11-6-3, with a 5-3-1 mark in the MAAC. Both records tie a school record.