BOX SCORE NIAGARA, N.Y. (Sept. 21, 2012) – In the middle of a three-week road swing, the Saint Francis University men's soccer team put up a season-best 26 shots Friday night at Niagara but fell 2-1 to the Purple Eagles in overtime.

“I am proud of our work rate and effort today,” head coach Michael Casper said. “We created a lot of chances, took a lot of shots and unfortunately sometimes the ball says no. I believe if we keep working and stay positive our luck will turn and these near misses will turn into goals.”

Friday night's game was all about offensive chances as combined between the two squads, 43 shots were fired. The Red Flash (2-3-2) wasted no time in applying pressure to Niagara (5-0-3) starting keeper Brett Petricek as the contest got underway. Senior Tamas Maffey-Stumpe (Cairns, Queensland, Australia/Mossman State) got the game's first shot off 48 seconds in, forcing Petricek to make his first of seven saves. Just past the 12 minute mark of the first half, it was the Purple Eagles who found the back of the net first. After the ball bounced around a bit off of the first corner kick of the game, Niagara's Callum Willmott was able to kick in a rebound off the post past SFU starting keeper Thomas McWilliams (Mermaid Waters, Australia/Palm Beach Currumbin).

As the first half minutes ticked down, the Flash were able to even things up before the halftime break. Junior Nick Kolarac (Pittsburgh, Pa./West Allegheny) sent a direct kick towards the goal and after a pile up in front of the keeper, sophomore Bryan Causey (Virginia Beach, Va./Salem) found the loose ball and sent it into the back of the net. The SFU tally is the first of Causey's career, with credit to Kolarac on the assist.

Saint Francis put up 13 shots alone in the first half and repeated that amount in the second half of play. After two back and forth periods of action, these two teams found themselves in a 1-1 draw and headed into a golden goal overtime period.

Despite the high volume of shots in the match, the overtime period saw just two shots, both coming from the Purple Eagles. The game winner came five minutes into overtime off of a set piece delivered by Niagara's Bryan Da Cruz. Da Cruz's corner kick sailed into the box and was headed in by Michael Hanton, which allowed the Purple Eagles to still remain unbeaten in 2012.

Saint Francis will look to end its three-game losing streak this Sunday when they travel to Buffalo, N.Y. to take on Canisius at 2:30 p.m.