|
Levi Tesch
|
NORFOLK, Va. – The Niagara men’s soccer team was narrowly defeated by the Old Dominion Monarchs, 1-0, in both teams' first game of the 34th Stihl Soccer Classic in front of 1259 spectators on Friday night.
“Old Dominion is a very good team,” head coach Dermot McGrane said. “In the first half, they took the game to us. We did a fairly good job defending to keep them from scoring in the first half and a big part of that was the play of John Fiutowski.”
Niagara (0-2-1) soaked up a lot of pressure from Old Dominion during the match, but the Monarchs’ goal came against the run of play. The Purple Eagles had just started to find their offensive rhythm in the second half and came close to scoring in the 68th minute. Levi Tesch (Wolcott, N.Y.) ripped a rocket from 70-yards out with the keeper caught well off his line, but his shot rattled off the crossbar. The Monarchs, pushed on by the home crowd, countered and scored the game’s lone goal in the 73rd minute from Yannick Smith.
Niagara had one more last-gasp chance in the 89th minute, but defender Zach Scholla’s (Angelica, N.Y.) shot sailed wide off of an in suing corner.
ODU (3-1-0) controlled possession and had the bulk of the shots during most of the game. However, the Niagara backline was instrumental in keeping NU in the game. Goalkeeper John Fiutowski (Ottawa, Ont.) was once again solid in net, making nine saves in the game.
“In the second half, we picked up our level of play and managed to pick up a few scoring chances,” McGrane said. “However, on the day we did not do enough to win.”
The Purple Eagles will play William & Mary (2-1-0) on Sunday at noon in their last game of the classic.
