The Fairfield University women's soccer team closes out its regular season schedule in Western New York this weekend with its postseason hopes squarely in its own hands. The Stags are 5-6-5 overall and are 3-2-2, with 11 points, in league play.
Three of four spots in the November 4-6 MAAC Championships are still available with six teams competing for those spots. Four of those teams will be in Western New York, with the Stags playing at Canisius College and Niagara University and Iona College on Friday night. The Stags and Griffs are tied for fourth, while Niagara and Iona are knotted at 13 points, in second place. Loyola University Maryland is sixth with 10 points, while Rider University is eighth with eight points, and both host Manhattan and Saint Peter's in the final weekend. Marist College has clinched the top-seed in the tournament and wins the regular season title outright with a tie or win over Siena on Saturday.
A pair of Fairfield wins this weekend secures a tournament spot, as high as the second-seed. Should the Stags earn four points, they would need a combination of losses and ties from Iona and Loyola, to qualify for the tournament.
The series between Fairfield and Canisius began in 1992 and the Stags hold a 15-4-1 edge in the series, and have won 13 of the last 15 meetings. The Griffs defeated Fairfield 4-2 on Lessing Field last season and the two teams played to a 1-1 tie at Canisius in 2009. Fairfield is 7-2-0 against the Griffs when playing them on the road and had won six straight in Buffalo before 2009.
Fairfield and Niagara first played in 1993, a 5-1 Fairfield win, and the Stags are 17-6-0 all-time against the Purple Eagles. The two teams have split the last two meetings; with a 1-0 Stag win on Lessing Field in 2010. Fairfield is 6-3 in games played at Niagara, including consecutive shutouts in 2007 (6-0) and 2009 (2-0).
Fairfield is coming off of its best offensive performance of the season, with a four-goal effort in a Senior Day win over Rider. The Stags have scored seven times in the last three games, 2-0-1, after touching net six times in the first 13 games of the season.
Nikki Stanton is leading the team in points, eight, and assists, six, having scored her first goal of the year against the Broncs. Her six assists is fifth in the league and 104th in the nation entering the week. Carly Beyar tallied her second game-winning goal in the last three games and is tied for the team lead with three goals. Lauren Reilly has also touched net three times this season. Ashley Small was named the league's Rookie of the Week on Monday, with a goal against Rider, and setting up another as she was fouled to earn a penalty kick.
Kelly Boudreau earned her fifth MAAC Defensive Player of the Week award on Monday as she posted consecutive shutouts over Loyola and Rider last weekend. She stopped 12 shots over the weekend and now has 379 for her career, eight shy of the career record of Anne Lyons. Her 200 scoreless minutes last weekend raised her league-leading save percentage to 84.6 percent. That number is 35th in the nation, while her 0.70 GAA is good for 31st in the nation.
