The Fairfield University women's soccer team hosts a key pair of home games this weekend as it wraps up the home portion of its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) schedule. The Stags, 7-6-2 overall, are currently in third place in league play with 10 points (3-1-1), will host Canisius College (Friday 7 p.m.) and Niagara University (Sunday 1 p.m.), in their final home games of the 2010 campaign.
Both games this weekend will be available for
viewing on-line through the Stags partnership with Stretch Internet. On Sunday afternoon,
Ivey Speight will be providing play-by-play commentary on the broadcast. As always,
livestats are available for both games.
Canisius and Niagara both enter the weekend as part of a three-way tie for fourth-place in the MAAC with nine points and identical 3-2-0 conference records. The top-four teams in league play
(league standings) will qualify for the conference championship, November 5-7 at Loyola University Maryland.
The Stags control their own destiny in regards to qualifying for the conference tournament, as they play four of the top-five teams in the league standings in the final two weekends – travelling to Siena and Marist next weekend. Should the Stags win any three of those games, or go 2-0-2, they would clinch a spot in the tournament. Fairfield can also win the league regular season title by winning all four of its remaining conference games.
Fairfield will host Canisius on Friday night in the 20th meeting between the two teams in program history. All fans that wear red or Fairfield University apparel will receive $1 admission to the game as part of Fairfield Friday. The Stags will also be accepting donations of new or gently used clothing and clothing accessories to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwestern Connecticut. All fans that make a donation will receive free admission to the 7 p.m. game.
The Stags are 15-3-1 in the all-time series with the Griffs, and 13-0-1 over the team's last 14 meetings, dating back to 1996. Fairfield is 8-1-0 at home in the series, having lost the first-ever meeting, 5-0, at home in 1992, but have outscored the Griffs 32-2 in those eight home wins.
Sunday afternoon the Stags will host Niagara at 1 p.m., with a pre-game ceremony to honor seniors
Nicole Cavallaro and
Casey Frobey as they play their final home game. That event will take place at approximately 12:50 p.m. on Lessing Field.
Fairfield and Niagara, who split a pair of meetings last season, are meeting for the 23rd time, with the Stags going 16-6-0 in the series. Before falling 2-1 in the MAAC quarterfinals last season, Fairfield had won three straight meetings in the series. The Stags are 7-2-0 at home against the Purple Eagles, with both losses coming on Lessing Field during the 2006 season.
The Stags have allowed just two goals in five MAAC games, 470 minutes, and posted four shutouts in those games.
Kelly Boudreau, who has recorded nine clean sheets this season, has an impressive .931 save percentage in league play, and has a 0.38 GAA in those games. The junior moved into a tie with Brett Maron (2004-07) for second on the team's career shutout list with 24, and is just half a shutout shy of Anne Lyons (1997-2000) school record (24.5). Boudreau has a .883 save percentage in her 1388 minutes of play, good for ninth in the NCAA and tops in the MAAC.
Eight different players have touched net for Fairfield in league play, with Cavallaro leading the way in points, with four.
Jasmin Corniel is the only other Stag to have more than two points, having a goal and an assist in conference action.
Corniel, Cavallaro and
Shannon Fay are the Stags top scorers for the year – all with six points – having tallied two goals and two assist apiece. No player has more than two goals or more than two assists this season, with 14 different players contributing either a goal or an assist on the season.
