FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Niagara men's soccer team earned its fifth-straight trip to the MAAC Tournament after defeating the Fairfield Stags, 3-0, on Friday night. Stephen Kauble (Canal Winchester, Ohio) opened the scoring from the spot in the 47th minute before strikes from Levi Tesch (Wolcott, N.Y.) and Desmond Betteto (Sarnia, Ont.) sealed the game.

With the win, Niagara (7-8-2, 5-2-1 MAAC) jumps ahead of Fairfield (8-6-2, 4-2-2) into third place and can finish no worse than fourth after Canisius lost to Iona earlier in the day.

“It’s very pleasing to make it into the playoffs once again, now we have to rest up for next week,” head coach Dermot McGrane said.

The Purple Eagles controlled the second half and frustrated the Stags by denying them clear scoring chances. Niagara won a penalty kick two minutes after the restart when a handball was called on one of the Fairfield defenders. Kauble stepped up and coolly placed his shot into the right corner of the net past the keeper to score his sixth goal of the year and his second from the penalty spot.

Niagara sealed the game with two goals with less than 20 minutes on the clock. In the 72nd minute, Tesch hit one of his trademark 30-yard laser on a free kick and it found the top corner of the net to put NU up 2-0. In the 79th minute, Betteto capitalized on a poor clearance by the Stags keeper and he waltz past the keeper to score the Purple Eagles' third and final goal.