Boxscore

HAMILTON, N.Y. (09/28/05) - Niagara’s Rafael Venturini scored the game-winning goal off a free kick, from 20 yards out, to give the visiting Purple Eagles a 2-1 victory over the Raiders on Wednesday night. It was Niagara’s (3-4-1) first ever win over Colgate (4-3-2), who leads the all-time series 8-1-1.

After a scoreless first half and seeing many substitutions brought in off the Colgate bench, sophomore Eric Anton (Tacoma, Wash./Charles Wright Academy) lit up the scoreboard for the Raiders at 51:57. Anton received a pass up the center of the field from Charlie Lambropoulos (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West) and beat a handful of Niagara defenders to send a shot from the top of the box to the back of the net. It was Anton’s third tally of the year.

Kwame Oduro found himself dribbling through the Niagara offensive zone with a little over 12 minutes remaining on the clock. He sent a cross pass through traffic to the foot of Eric Brodfuehrer. Brodfuehrer found himself all alone in front of the goal and sent a rocket past Doug Litvack (Levittown, N.Y./Long Island Lutheran) from eight yards out to the lower left corner at 78:26.

With two minutes left to play in regulation, it looked as though the Raiders and Purple Eagles were headed into overtime. Things quickly changed when Colgate was called for a push on Oduro just outside the Niagara box. With Oduro exiting the game, Venturini came in as his replacement and set up for the free kick from 20 yards out. He lofted a shot that went high over the Raiders’ man-made wall, to the left of a diving Litvack, to put the Purple Eagles up 2-1 with just 55 seconds remaining.

Colgate outshot Niagara 12-6 in the first half, but things reversed in the second, when it was the Purple Eagles who took 14 shots to the Raiders’ six. In net, Colgate’s Litvack made six saves, while Niagara’s Eric Sullivan collected seven.

The Raiders will travel to Easton, Pa. on Saturday to take on Lafayette in a Patriot League game. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.