FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's soccer team heads into the final weekend of the regular season by hosting Loyola University on Friday night and Rider University on Sunday afternoon. Prior to the Rider game, the men's soccer program will honor the team's seniors with a pre-game ceremony.

The Stags remain in the hunt for a berth to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), needing to win both games and get some help from other MAAC teams.

Fairfield enters this weekend with a 4-7-5 overall record and a 3-4 MAAC mark, which includes a split last weekend. The team knocked off Manhattan College by a 4-1 count but came up short against Saint Peter's in a pair of road games. Nuno Rodrigues scored a pair of goals in the win against Manhattan, which placed him into a tie for first among the team's scoring leaders.

Rodrigues joins freshman Jon Clements for the team lead with seven points. Both student-athletes have three goals and an assist to their credit this season. Erik Ilisije made his return to the lineup last weekend, and quickly added a goal to his season total. The senior posted the final goal in the win against Manhattan, giving him three goals for the season. Freshman Dan Shaw leads the team with three assists, giving him five points for the year with one-game winning goal.

After starting the season with a 1-3-1 record, Loyola University has finished strongly with an 8-1-1 record over the last 10 games. The Greyhounds own a 5-1-1 record in MAAC play, and are looking to firm up a berth to the MAAC tournament.

Phil Bannister is the team's leading scorer despite missing six games, posting 10 goals and an assist for 21 points. Kevin Curran is one of four student-athletes to start all 15 games this season, and has six assists in 15 starts. Stephen Dooley is the team leader with seven assists, starting all 14 of his appearances. Goalkeeper Kyle Wittman owns a 1.13 goals against average with 61 saves in 15 starts. He has six shutouts to his credit, which included three straight shutouts on the road against Rider, Canisius, and Niagara.

Rider looks to improve on its 2-13-1 overall record and its 1-5-1 MAAC slate, which includes a five-game winless streak (0-4-1). The team's last victory came against Manhattan College by a 2-0 count on October 10. Both of the team's wins came at home, owning an 0-5-1 mark in away matches this year.

Dan Friga is the team's top scorer this year with seven points, registering three goals and an assist in his 16 appearances. Sam Kotowski is next in line with six points, all of which came off his three goals. He has one of the team's two game-winning goals, joining Chris Kozak for that honor. Matt Perella has played most of the minutes in the Broncs goal this year, recording 1175 minutes in his 14 starts. He owns a 2.53 goals against average with a .667 save percentage (66 saves).