NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara women’s soccer team handed the Marist Red Foxes their first conference defeat of the season with a 1-0 win on Friday night at Niagara Field.

“I thought we played a very good first half and I was really proud of the effort,” head coach Peter Veltri said. “We created a lot of opportunities, scored one and could have scored another two. We did enough to earn the victory and I thought in the second half we showed a lot of heart to hold on to lead.  The win was very important if we want to make it to the (MAAC) tournament.”

Niagara (7-4-1, 2-2-0 MAAC) remains unbeaten at home (4-0-1) and won its second straight conference and home match after defeating archrivals Canisius last Saturday. The Purple Eagles needed only one goal for the win and it came in the eighth minute.

Freshman forward Kayla Picanco danced around her marker in the box and fired her shot to the low far post to score her second goal of the season. Later in the half, Niagara had a few chances to increase its lead, but shots by Michaela DiFazio and Jamie Raepple went wide and high, respectively. 

In the second half, Marist (8-7-0, 4-1-0 MAAC) threw caution to the wind and forced several chances. However, senior goalkeeper Ashleigh Bowers and the defense were ready for the challenge. Bowers had a key save in the 62nd minute when she tipped away Marist’s Rycke Guiney header over the post. Caitlin Long provided the Purple Eagles’ best scoring chance of the half in the 68th minute when her shot was saved off the line by a Red Fox defender.

In the final minute, Bowers made her final save of the match en route to picking up her fifth shutout of the season, which is a career-high.

Niagara is back in action on Sunday when its plays Siena at noon. The game will be broadcast by Lockport Community Television (LCTV).