NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. - Freshman forward Bryan DaCruz's (Barrie, Ont.) double powered the Niagara men's soccer team to a 2-1 overtime victory over archrival, the Canisius Golden Griffins, on Saturday night in front of 574 spectators at Niagara Field. 

"I thought we played well tonight, especially in the second half and overtime," head coach Dermot McGrane said. "We showed great character to comeback from an early goal and deserved to win it."

DaCruz catapulted to the top of Niagara's goal scoring list this season with his two goal performance tonight. Niagara (5-8-1, 3-2-0 MAAC) outworked Canisius (3-10-1, 2-3-0 MAAC) in the second half by controlling possession and dominating in shots to setup a highly dramatic finish.

In the 74th minute, the Purple Eagles won a free kick outside of the penalty box. Senior Anthony DiBiase (Richmond Hill, Ont.) sent in a tantalizing ball into the box, which found DaCruz's head inside the six-yard box, to tie the game at 1-1. DaCruz's goal cancelled out Victor Gonzalez's eighth minute opener. Carl Haworth (Barrie, Ont.) nearly made it 2-1 minutes later, but his long range shot hit the crossbar in the 80th minute.

The game-winning goal came two minutes into overtime from great combination play by Niagara. Michael Pass (Lockport, N.Y.) played a through ball from his own end to Stephen Kauble (Canal Winchester, Ohio) and his cross found DaCruz in the box. DaCruz beat two defenders to the ball and  calmly slid it past the Canisius goalkeeper for the win.

Niagara held a 22-13 lead in shots, including a 17-6 advantage in the second half and overtime. Niagara is now 6-3-1 against Canisius this decade and takes a 6-0 lead in the 2009-10 edition of the “Battle of the Bridge”.

The Purple Eagles are back in action next Friday, Oct. 30 at home against Siena .