Canisius sophomore forward Alan McGreal (pictured) scored twice and added an assist and freshman goalkeeper Adam Catley recorded his first collegiate shutout as the Golden Griffins beat Niagara 3-0 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men's soccer action Saturday afternoon at Niagara Field in Lewiston, N.Y. The win snapped Canisius' four-game losing streak and improved the Blue and Gold to 2-7-0 overall and 1-0-0 in MAAC play, while the Purple Eagles fell to 2-6-1 overall and 0-1-0 in the league.
"This was a great team win for us," Canisius head coach Jim Hesch said. "We had a great week of training and things fell into place today. Everything that we've worked on this season was to get us to this point, and this is a good start to conference play."
McGreal put the Griffs on the scoreboard first in the game's 23rd minute with his fourth goal of the season off an assist from freshman Collin Lynch. Canisius added to its margin at the 74:21 mark of the contest when freshman Brendan Brody posted his first collegiate tally off an assist from McGreal. McGreal took the ball up the right hand side of the field a played a cross to Brody, who was able to beat Niagara keeper John Fiutowski into the left corner of the net to push the Griffs to a 2-0 lead.
McGreal capped the scoring in the 89th minute after he tucked in his fifth goal of the season off a failed clearing attempt by a Niagara defender. Saturday's game marks the second multi-goal game of the season for McGreal, as the sophomore from Dublin, Ireland moves into the top-15 at Canisius in career goals scored with 11 through his first 25 games as a Griff.
Catley recorded eight saves for his first shutout, as the Purple Eagles outshot the Griffs by a count of 28-20. Fiutoski made six stops in the loss for Niagara as Canisius posted its first road win over the Purple Eagles since the 1999 campaign.
Canisius will return to action Friday, Oct. 12, at home when the team plays host to Siena at the Demske Sports Complex. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
Game Notes: With the win, Canisius scores two points in the Battle of the Bridge, an all-sports competition between the two long-time rivals... Saturday's game was the 48th all-time meeting between the two schools... Both of Alan McGreal's multi-goal games this season have resulted in Canisius wins... Dating back to last season, Canisius' last four league wins have been shutout victories.
