NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Niagara men's soccer team defeated the Marist Red Foxes, 1-0 in the final home game of the regular season on Wednesday afternoon at Niagara Field.

With the victory, Niagara pushes its record to 5-11-1 overall and 4-4-1 in the MAAC, while Marist drops to 3-14-0 on the year and 2-7-0 in conference play.

"The team played solid for 90 minutes," head coach Eric Barnes said.  "We were unlucky not to have a bigger lead going into halftime with the quality chances we created.  However, we were able to secure the win through a complete team effort."

The contest was evenly matched throughout in the opening 45 minutes of play, but the half ended with the score at 1-0 in favor of the Purple Eagles. 

Freshman Nicholas Watson broke the scoreless game at the 30th minute with his third goal of his rookie season.  Watson blocked a clear attempt by a Marist defender and picked up the loose back at 25 yards out.  The rookie rushed in on goalkeeper Anthony Sokalski and slipped in low, right corner shot to put the Purple Eagles ahead.

As the second half began, the Red Foxes looked more threatening on the attack as the team controlled possession and kept the ball in Niagara's defensive end for a majority of the stanza.  A magnificent defensive effort by goalkeeper Brenden Ottman combined with the Purple Eagle steadfast defensive play kept their conference foe from finding the back of the net. 

The Red Foxes came close to finding the game equalizer in the 73rd minute, but senior captain Nick Garcia kept Marist off the scoreboard.  Tony Carreras picked up a deflected shot just outside the 18-yard box and made no mistake knocking the ball over Ottman, who was out of position because of a deflection.  The ball was headed towards the empty net, but Garcia made a sliding save to keep the ball out of the goal and score 1-0.

Ottman corralled five saves over the 90 minutes to mark his fourth shutout of the year. 

The Purple Eagles will travel to Riverdale, N.Y. on Saturday, Nov. 9 to face Manhattan College for the season's final game of the regular season. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Gaelic Park.