LORETTO, Pa. – A pair of goals scored in the opening half undid the Niagara men's soccer team in a 2-0 defeat at the St. Francis (Pa.) Red Flash from the Stokes Soccer Complex on Sunday afternoon. 

"The team played well overall.  We made a costly mistake conceding the penalty kick, but the boys competed the entire 90 minutes," said head coach Eric Barnes.  "We started four freshmen who all played well.  If we can clean up a few individual mistakes, we have the quality to go on a run." 

The Purple Eagles (1-6-0) would fall behind after 13 minutes when Nick Kolarac shot home a goal through traffic from the 18-yard line to give the Red Flash (5-1-1) a 1-0 lead.  Kolarac added his second goal of the game less than eight minutes later on a penalty kick and it proved to be all the Red Flash needed to secure the victory.

The Purple and White had several scoring chances on the night, with close efforts by Nicholas Watson  and Julian Ekeze.  Niagara goalkeeper Brenden Ottman  made a season high eight saves. 

Niagara is back on the field on Saturday when it hosts Cornell from Niagara Field at 2 p.m.  This will be the team's final non-conference match-up before beginning MAAC play against Saint Peter's on Oct. 5.