LEWISTON — Two years ago, Niagara took the hard road to the NCAA Tournament.
It finished in second in the regular season and went on a run to win its first MAAC tournament with two wins at Fairfield University.
This year’s team will have to follow the same script if it will win the second conference title in program history.
After starting the season 7-0 in MAAC play, Niagara’s chances of at a minimum of being co-conference champions alongside Fairfield were dashed by a 13-4 loss to Mount St. Mary’s, Saturday.
Despite the loss, Niagara still has a lot to play for as they prepare for the postseason, the team will be getting back to the drawing board. Niagara is back in action at 4 p.m. May 1, with the opponent still to be determined.
“I think we definitely are going to watch some film, watch some scout and definitely hone in all of the little mistakes we can make,” Niagara junior midfielder Abberly Dela Rosa said. “They’re definitely presentable and with just cleaning up those few things, we’ll be ready to go.”
The fact that the Purple Eagles were even in a place to win their first MAAC regular season title in program history was down to a late season turnaround that started on a Saturday afternoon at Quinnipiac.
The Purple Eagles started the season 1-7 before they played Quinnipiac on March 21. In the fourth quarter of that game, Niagara trailed 11-7 and appeared to be set for their eighth loss of the season. That is until they were able to battle all the way back and take a 13-12 lead and get a 14-13 double-overtime win.
That kickstarted a run that saw Niagara win seven games in a row until the loss to Mount St. Mary’s.
“There was a sense of urgency with what we were doing offensively,” Niagara head coach Wendy Stone said. “The kids made the decision that we’re going to win this game, we’re not going to lose and really went out and people started to finish and started to make plays and things that we could build on from a momentum perspective.”
This year’s team looks a lot different than the 2024 squad, with their youth and the fact that they did have to go on the aforementioned run to get to the second seed. There are still 13 holdovers from 2024, but this year’s roster has more young players in big roles.
The youth renaissance on the Purple Eagles has shown off in the scoring column with 92 of the team’s 153 goals being scored by underclassmen. That group is led by the team’s leading scorer, sophomore Michaella Delles, who has 35 goals and 12 assists.
“I think they’re two very different teams, but we all have the same goal in mind and we’re all willing to work for that,” Dela Rosa said. “ So I think personnel wise every team is going to be different. But I think that in the end we’ll have that drive. Both teams have that drive to succeed and want to win that championship, for sure.”