CLEVELAND - The Niagara men's soccer team second half rally came up short in its season opening 2-1 defeat at the Cleveland State Vikings on Sunday afternoon.

The match between Niagara (0-1-0) and Cleveland State (1-3-0) featured 34 fouls and seven yellow cards in another tightly contested match in the series.

"We stepped up our game in the second half," head coach Dermot McGrane said.  "We manage to possess the ball more, didn’t allow them chances to score and created good scoring chances in the attacking third.”

Freshman forward Gino Corasaniti netted the Purple Eagles' first goal of the season in the 65th minute. Corasaniti, who was recently named to College Soccer News' "100 Freshmen to Keep an Eye On", finished off a well develop move by midfielder Michael Cunningham and forward Carl Haworth with a backpost finish to cut the lead to 2-1.

NU had the better of play in the second half, outshooting CSU 4-3, and pushed for the equalizing goal. In the 70th minute, NU came within inches of tying the game when Levi Tesch's free kick outside of the box skimmed the top of the post.

The Vikings, who were playing in their fourth game of the season, started the better of the two teams and were rewarded with two goals. CSU's Manual Conde was the first to pounce on a loose ball in the box to score the first goal of the game in the 24th minute and John Wargo scored on a direct free kick in the 37th minute after NU keeper Jacob Vertel was ruled to have handled the ball outside of the box. A minute after the goal, the Purple Eagles earned a penalty kick, but Tesch's effort was saved by CSU keeper Brad Stuver.

“I wasn’t pleased with the level of our play in the first half," McGrane said. "We were making too many sloppy passes and weren't organized on defense."

Niagara's next game will be at Western Michigan on Friday, Sept. 10 at 4 p.m.