ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The men's soccer team (5-4-0) completed its non-conference slate with a 3-1 victory today over Niagara (2-6-1) at McGraw-Jennings Field.
The Bonnies wasted little time in getting on the board as freshman Nicholas Perillo, starting just his second game of the season, headed home a cross from senior Kevin Okapal in the 5th minute for his first collegiate goal. Okapal made a run down the left side of the pitch and centered the ball onto Perillo's head, who placed the ball into the upper-right corner of the net.
The Brown and White added to their lead just before halftime as Brad Beaumont tallied his first collegiate goal in the 43rd minute. Freshman Emmett O'Connor beat his defender and carried the ball to just about the edge of the touch line before sending a ball right onto Beaumont's foot in the center of the box. Beaumont, who has played this year primarily as a defender, looked like a striker with his finish off the underbelly of the crossbar in the top-right corner.
O'Connor got his second assist of the day in the 72nd minute when he lofted a pass across the face of the goal onto the head of James Reed, who tucked the ball inside the right post and past Niagara netminder Christopher Skelton, putting the Bonnies up 3-0.
The Purple Eagles tried to make things interesting when in the 82nd minute Gilbert Liam netted his fourth goal of the season, cutting the Bonnies lead to 3-1. However, the defense in front of netminder David Flynn kept Niagara off the board the rest of the day, earning Flynn his fourth win of the year.
Afterwards, Mahler was complementary of the defense, particularly Okapal, Kevin Mjaatvedt and anchor David DiNardo. "I'm really pleased with his play up until now," Mahler said of DiNardo. "He's done a great job of organizing things in the back, has shown some great leadership and I think as we move forward this year that we'll need to depend on that from him a lot.
"The three of them in the back have just been very consistent and efficient, and for any continued success this year we're really going to have to rely on them," Mahler added.
Mahler moved Beaumont up front to replace Fabrizio Savarino who sat out today's match with a hamstring injury. The move resulted in Mahler starting freshman Kolby Banker for the first time in his collegiate career, and Mahler was pleased with the Grand Island, N.Y., native, saying, "He played a great game. He played within the role that we asked him to play and he was very successful."
The win represented the Bonnies first winning streak of the season, as they also defeated Big 4 rival Canisius on Friday night, 2-1, but Mahler thought this was the best game his team has played this year.
"I thought from the first to last whistle we played very well," Mahler said. "It's good to see that we're taking what we're working on in training onto the field. Our players' roles are also more clearly defined now, which means that they can go out and focus on what they need to do to be successful, and from that the team will be successful."
The Bonnies finish their non-conference schedule with a record over .500 for the first time since 2005 when they went 4-2-1. Atlantic 10 Conference play begins on Friday when the Charlotte 49ers visit McGraw-Jennings Field for a 3:30 kickoff.
Game Notes
The Bonnies outshot Niagara, 15-10, including 11-3 in the first half, and out-corned the Purple Eagles, 11-3 … O'Connor's two assists now give him three on the year, and he is second on the team with five points … this was the first game of the year Beaumont didn't start … Niagara's Michael Cunningham, who had one shot in the contest, is the younger brother of Anna Cunningham who plays for the Bonnies women's soccer team.
(Photos Courtesy of Tony Lee)
