Niagara University - Athletics

Athletics

The Niagara University Athletics Department sponsors 18 Division I sports. The Purple Eagles compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) in all sports except ice hockey. The men's ice hockey team competes in Atlantic Hockey. The athletics director is Tom Crowley.

Niagara's athletic teams have fared well in the 21st Century.

The men's basketball team won the MAAC Championship in 2005 and in 2007, earning automatic bids to the 2005 and 2007's NCAA tournaments, known colloquially as the "Big Dance". Niagara's first appearance in the Dance came in 1970, when All-American Calvin Murphy led the Purple Eagles to the Sweet Sixteen. On March 13, 2007, Niagara defeated Florida A&M 77-69 in the so-called "Play-In Game".

Further information: Niagara Purple Eagles men's basketball

The men's hockey team won the College Hockey America Championship in 2000, 2004 and 2008, appearing in the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship those years. In 2000, the "Purps" upset the University of New Hampshire to advance to the Elite Eight.

Further information: Niagara Purple Eagles men's ice hockey

Two years later, the women's hockey team, under head coach Margot Page, shocked the college hockey world by advancing to the Frozen Four, eventually tying the University of Minnesota in the third-place game.

Further information: Niagara Purple Eagles women's ice hockey

Four other Niagara teams have advanced to the NCAA Tournament in their respective sports: softball (1998); women's soccer (2006); women's tennis (2003 & 2005); and women's volleyball (2009 & 2010).

Further information: Niagara Purple Eagles men's soccer

The Athletics Department also operates the Kiernan Center—Niagara's on-campus fitness facility—and sponsors a comprehensive slate of intramural sports, including basketball, broomball, flag football, indoor soccer, softball, street hockey, and rugby union.