NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - The Niagara men's soccer team was narrowly defeated by conference leaders Iona, 1-0, in the regular season finale for both teams on Sunday afternoon.

"This was a great opportunity to rest some players and get our bench some game experience," head coach Dermot McGrane said. "Overall, it was a slow pace game with both teams more concern with staying healthy for next week (MAAC Tournament)."

Niagara (7-9-2, 5-3-1 MAAC) clinched a spot in next weekend's MAAC Championships before the match had started.  The match was evenly played throughout the 90 minutes as Iona (14-2-2, 8-1-0), who clinched the number one seed for the tournament, and NU had a chance to play several players.

The Gaels broke the scoreless deadlock in the 77th minute when a fortuitous bounce in the box allowed Vassil Roussopoulos to punch home his second goal of the season.

The Purple Eagles made things interesting in the final minute of play and came within inches of sending the game into overtime. Defender Matt Hynes (Rochester, N.Y.) had his header from eight yards out smashed off the post with 11 seconds left in the match.  

Niagara will be the fourth seed due to Fairfield win over Canisius. The Purple Eagles and Gaels will tangle each other again in five days in the 2009 MAAC Championship Semifinals on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. from Fairfield, Conn.