NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – Junior defender Bianca Marrara registered her first goal as a Purple Eagle to push the Niagara women's soccer team to a 2-1 triumph over the Binghamton Bearcats on Friday afternoon at Niagara Field. 

"This was a great victory for us.  We showed great character today bouncing back from our first defeat of the season," head coach Peter Veltri said.  "I thought we settled down in the second half and played more composed.  We created some nice combinations that gave us chances to score." 

With 31 minutes remaining in the contest, senior Haillie Price began the goal-scoring play with a feed to junior Hayley Besaw down the right side.  The junior raced into the box and released a laser that Binghamton goalie Katie Hatzlyianis prevented from finding the back of the net with a diving save, but Marrara came in strong to knock in the rebound to give NU a 1-0 lead.  

Price added a two-goal cushion and eventual game-winner 13 minutes later to secure the victory and push Niagara to a 3-1-1 mark on the season.  The loss drops Binghamton to 3-4-1.  The game-winning tally began off a Maureen Papaconstantinou corner kick that sailed into the box and was juggled between the teams before Price directed a header into the upper right corner for goal number two of the year.    

Besaw grabbed her second two-point game of the season off a pair of assists.  Junior goalkeeper Claire Feiertag earned her third win of the campaign with six saves, while her counterparts Gaby Gold and Hatziyianis combined for four stops.   

Binghamton recorded the early opportunities, but despite outshooting the Purple Eagles 16-3, the teams headed into the second period scoreless.  Feiertag made the first big stop of the afternoon 12 minutes into the contest as she stymied a blast from junior Katherine Corcoran in the box with a diving save. 

The Bearcats came within inches of gaining the lead as senior Emily Nuss had a pair of quality chances inside 20 minutes of the opening half.  After a Niagara foul just outside the penalty box resulted in a Binghamton free kick, Nuss released a screamer that rang off the crossbar.  The rebound went straight back to Nuss' feet and her second one-time shot cruised wide of the net.

Despite the Niagara defense buckling down after the Purple Eagles notched their pair of goals, Corcoran was able to rob the clean sleet from Feiertag in the 84th minute.

The afternoon concluded with Binghamton outshooting Niagara 23-10, although the squads each registered seven opportunities each in the second half.  Of those 23 Bearcat shots, six were blocked by the NU defenders.

The Purple Eagles continue their four-game homestand with a bout against Cleveland State on Sunday, Sept. 14 at 2 p.m.