Levi Tesch

NORFOLK, Va. – The Niagara men’s soccer team defeated the William and Mary Tribe, 1-0, in the 34th Stihl Classic on Sunday afternoon. Midfielder Levi Tesch (Wolcott, N.Y.) scored the game’s only goal sixteen minutes from time to give NU its first win of the season.

It took a total team effort for Niagara (1-2-1) to upend William and Mary (2-2-0) in a well contested match.  The first half was evenly contested, but the Purple Eagles controlled a lot of the play in the second half with the Tribe withering away in the heat. Tesch broke the scoreless deadlock with his first goal of the season in the 74th minute. Tesch, who was booked a minute earlier, made amends with a 25-yard blast to beat the keeper for what would be the game-winning goal.

The Niagara backline had to sustain an immense amount of pressure from the Tribe who were in search of the game-tying goal. W&M’s Prince Thomas had his shot saved by John Fiutowski (Ottawa, Ont.) in the dying seconds of the match to secure the victory for the Purple Eagles.  Fiutowski recorded his first shutout of the season.

“We played well today against a very good team,” head coach Dermot McGrane said. “We put a lot of work in our preseason conditioning and it helped out in the second half of today’s game.”

The win is an historic milestone for Niagara men’s soccer as McGrane is now the all-time leader in career wins at Niagara. McGrane’s 48th victory breaks the tie with former head coach Jean Tassey, who had a 47-40-7 record in eight seasons with the Purple Eagles (1974-81). 

“It is nice honor to have,” McGrane said. “But the most important thing is we got a win for our team.”

Niagara will play its first home game of the season against Robert Morris on Friday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m.

Stihl Final Standings
1) Old Dominion, 2-0-0 - Champions
2) Niagara, 1-1-0
3) William and Mary, 1-1-0
4) Temple, 0-2-0

Stihl All-Tournament Team
Bobby Foglesong - ODU (MVP)
Evan Newton - ODU
Nane Joseph - ODU
Shane Howard - ODU
Andrew Hoxie - W&M
Mike Dinuzzo - W&M
John Fiutowski - Niagara
Rene DeZorzi - Niagara
Levi Tesch - Niagara
JT Noone - Temple
Max Kinderwater - Temple