The Battle of the Bridge is the name of the all-sports rivalry between the Canisius Golden Griffins and the Niagara Purple Eagles.ESPN and Bill Bradley (2009). ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Bristol, Connecticut: ESPN. p. 114. .Beck, Stan, and Wilkinson, Jack (2013). College Sports Traditions: Picking Up Butch, Silent Night, and Hundreds of Others. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 227. . Both schools are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The two teams compete every school year in 14 sports; men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's golf, men's ice hockey, women's lacrosse, men's and women's soccer, women's softball, men's and women's swimming & diving, and women's volleyball. The overall winner of the annual series receives the Canal Cup trophy. The two long-time Western New York rivals created the trophy in 2007 to enhance the historic rivalry between the two schools. The name of the series is a reference to the Grand Island Bridge, which each team crosses when traveling along I-190 to the other's campus. The name of the trophy is a reference to the Erie Canal, which separates Erie County, where Canisius is located, and Niagara County, where Niagara is located.
Overall results
SeasonWinnerOverall scoreSeriesCanisiusNiagara 2006–07 Niagara1024Niagara 1–0 2007–08 Canisius2113Tied 1–1 2008–09 Canisius2311Canisius 2–1 2009–10 Niagara1517Tied 2–2 2010–11 Canisius2013Canisius 3–2 2011–12 Canisius18.514.5Canisius 4–2 2012–13 Canisius2112Canisius 5–2 2013–14 Canisius23.59.5Canisius 6–2 2014–15 Canisius217Canisius 7–2 2015–16 Canisius20.57.5Canisius 8–2 2016–17 Canisius308Canisius 9–2 2017–18 Canisius279Canisius 10–2 2018–19 Canisius1911Canisius 11–2 2019–20 Canisius1610Canisius 12–2 2020–21 Niagara1016Canisius 12–3 2021–22 Niagara1323Canisius 12–4 2022–23 Canisius1917Canisius 13–4 2023–24 Niagara1025Canisius 13–5 2024–25 Canisius1817Canisius 14–5 2025–26 Niagara1224Canisius 14–6 Total 19* seasons 367.5 288.5Canisius 14–6
References