Courtesy of GoBonnies.com
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure men’s soccer team defeated Big 4 rival Niagara, 1-0, Sunday afternoon at the Marra Athletics Fields Complex as Jacob Dyck found the back of the net for the lone goal.
In the 35th minute, Niagara controlled the ball in the Bonaventure back line in front of the net. Noel Orozco cleared the ball for Bona deep down the middle, and found Dyck at midfield. Dyck beat his defender, and had a one-on-one breakaway on the Niagara keeper before netting his shot attempt for his second goal of the season.
Niagara had an opportunity to get on the board first at the 22:31 mark as it put a strike just under the cross bar, but the Bonnies keeper Alex Olday made a leaping save to punch it over the net with one hand and cleared the threat.
“It’s great to have a win, but more importantly, it’s great to have a shutout,” said head coach Kwame Oduro. “That makes it even better. We’ve been working on defending, and I think it paid off.”
Up 1-0, the Bonnies’ best opportunity to double their lead came at the 61:50 mark. A Bona corner kick created a scrum in front of the Niagara goal, allowing Nikko Richards to gain possession and fired a shot from point-blank range, but a Purple Eagle defender sent the shot wide.
The two squads played with a high level of physicality. Both teams were whistled for a combined for 33 total fouls, and the referees handed out 10 total yellow cards – five for each team.
The Bonnies peppered the Niagara net, outshooting the Purple Eagles, 16-7. Paul Afful led the way with five shots.
Olday earned his first career clean sheet.
St. Bonaventure will play its third consecutive and final Big 4 match of the season when it travels to Buffalo to take on the Bulls on Wednesday. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
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