ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure men's soccer team (1-8) scored twice but could not hold off the Purple Eagles of Niagara (6-0-3) who would net three to down the Bonnies Sunday afternoon.

The Bonnies controlled the pace early putting pressure on the Niagara defense from the get go. Sophomore Kaine Moar had a good chance in the 8th minute that Niagara goalie Brett Petricek saved.

Brad Vanino and James Reed would add shots as well just two minutes apart until Vanino settled a rebound from a Niagara defender and blasted home his first goal of the season from well outside the box past the diving Petricek in the 13th minute.

The 1-0 lead would last just shy of one minute. Niagara's Callum Willmott received a pass from Bryan Da Cruz and beat SBU goalie Abel Bautista, making just the third start of his career, for his fifth goal of the season.

The Bonnies and Purple Eagles would trade shots for four more minutes, but it was SBU who would break through and score their second goal of the day in the 18th minute. Junior Emmett O'Connor gathered another rebound and blasted home his first goal of the 2012 campaign giving the Bonnies their first multi-goal game since Sept. 21, 2011 against Cleveland State.

The score would remain 2-1 for the next 26 minutes. In the 45th minute, Niagara midfielder Mike Cunningham, younger brother of former SBU women's soccer player Anna Cunningham, finished off his first goal of the season near the goal mouth to tie the score just before halftime.

At the half, the Bonnies had outshot Niagara 9-4 and committed four fewer fouls, 2-6. It would also mark the fifth time this season that the Bonnies took a tie score into the half.

SBU controlled the pace in the second half as well. They would out shoot the Purple Eagles 8-2. The Bonnies' best chance came when Brad Vanino found an opening in the 54th minute and fired a shot that was saved.

St. Bonaventure would find a few more chances to no avail. In the 84th minute following a Niagara yellow card, Bryan Da Cruz broke free and beat Bautista to give the Purple Eagles a late 3-2 lead.

The Bonnies attempted six corner kicks in the second half, four came in the final 1:08 of the second half as Vanino and Reed attempted to produce scoring chances from the corners but the Niagara defense was up to the challenge leaving the Bonnies without so much as a shot.  The final score would hold 3-2.

The Bonnies will be at home again in their only game next weekend. SBU will take on Siena at McGraw-Jennings field at 4:00 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Bonnies had only scored four goals in 2012 before scoring two today. Vanino scored his first goal of the season after firing a team leading 26 shots heading into the game. He would fire eight more shots today. The Bonnies have out shot their opponents four times this season. They are 1-3 in those games. Four yellow cards were handed out. Three were received by Niagara players, Adam Scott picked up the lone card for the Bonnies.