NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Danielle Kennedy scored her first goal of the season and Claire Feiertag made seven saves to propel the Niagara women's soccer team to a 1-0 victory over cross-town rival the Canisius Golden Griffins in a MAAC match on Wednesday evening.

With the victory, the Purple Eagles improve to 3-9-0 overall and 2-2-0 in conference play, while the Golden Griffins drop to 3-8-1 on the year and 1-2-0 in the MAAC.  The victory was the team's second consecutive win, having dropped Manhattan last Sunday.  

"It was a great victory for us tonight," head coach Peter Veltri said.  "It's our second win in a row and it was against our rival.  This game always means more than the average game.  Our juniors and senior were not going to let us lose tonight.  They went into a game with the attitude that winning was the only option and they succeeded."

The first half was a back-and-forth affair as both teams saw equal time in the offensive zone, but the contest remained scoreless until the 27th minute when Niagara broke the tie off Kennedy's goal.  Maureen Papaconstantinou lobbed in a free kick into the box that Kenney was able to get a head on.  The ball deflected off a Griffin defender before slipping passed Canisius goalkeeper Megan Tock for Kennedy's first score of the season.

Canisius responded with a couple quality scoring chances of its own, but Feiertag kept the Golden Griffins off the scoreboard.  Two minutes after the Purps got on the board, Kelly McMahon took a hard, low shot towards the right corner that Feiertag stopped with a diving save.  Brianna Smith followed that with an opportunity of her own, chipping a high ball over Feiretag that went just wide. 

The half wrapped up with shots deadlocked at six apiece.

Canisius increased the pressure in the second 45 minutes of play, outshooting NU 8-2, but the Purple Eagle backline and Feiertag combined to shutout the Griffs for the team's first blank slate of the season.  Feiertag made a superb diving save off a Smith shot with two minutes remaining to improve her record to 3-7-0.          

 
The Purple Eagles travel to Jersey City, N.J. on Saturday, Oct. 5 to battle the Saint Peter's Peacocks in conference play.  Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.