Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

VESTAL, N.Y. - Visiting Niagara (2-1-1) snapped a 1-1 tie with the deciding goal 57 seconds into the second half and the margin stood in a 2-1 loss for Binghamton women's soccer (1-2-1) Friday night at the Bearcats Sports Complex.

Playing its fourth straight game at home to open the season, BU struck first when senior forward Stephani Church notched her second goal of the season 10:50 into the contest. Junior forward Leighann Bennett sent a corner kick to the near post where Church nudged it past the keeper.

Niagara tied it in the 36th minute off a corner kick when forward Haillie Price took advantage of a size difference and headed a ball directly in front of BU keeper Katie Hatziyianis. Price then struck again for the winner, tracking down a long ball over the top and touching a volley over Hatziyianis and into the unoccupied net.

"We had a great competitive spirit tonight," head coach Sarah McClellan said. "We made a few mistakes on each side of the ball that we'll have to clean up but overall it was a step forward and a full 90-minute competition against a good team. We were looking to get a better performance from our last game - both with our team defending and penetrating and getting shots up top and I think we did that."

The Bearcats were outshot 13-11 but put seven shots on goal and created numerous scoring opportunities. 

Senior midfielder Katherine Corcoran rifled four shots at net and had two quality chances saved by the Niagara keeper. Sophomore forward Jacque Rice had the initial first-half shot that was saved preceding BU's corner kick goal. She also had some highlight footwork on the left side of the box throughout the second half. 

Hatziyianis made six saves in her fourth straight complete game.

Binghamton begins a rough stretch of seven straight road games with a Sunday match at Siena (1-1-2). The Saings blanked defending America East champion New Hampshire 2-0 in their last outing.