The Niagara 1812 women’s soccer team has enjoyed an excellent inaugural season in the Women’s Premier Soccer League. 

Competing in the Great Lakes Conference against Cleveland, Binghamton, Erie and Rochester, the squad finished tied for first with 14 points on the strength of four wins, two losses and two ties.

Niagara 1812 has advanced to play Long Island in the East Region Conference semifinal July 13 in Central Slip, N.Y. The final would be played the next day with the winner advancing to Oklahoma City to compete in the WPSL Final Four.

“To be honest, we knew most of the girls and had worked with most of the girls and we knew what we were getting involved with. There were a handful of girls we had heard of and knew of but they really hadn’t spent much time with the coaching staff,” head coach Lucio Ianiero said. “We knew there was going to be a learning curve in terms of our philosophy but it definitely exceeded our expectations. We had no idea of the level in the WPSL.”

The season began slowly.

“We didn’t start off very well. We started off with a loss and a tie and I think we just picked up some momentum in the middle of the season and we thought we could compete at that point,” he said. “We strung a couple of wins together and then the girls started to realize their potential.”

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