The Fairfield University women's soccer team, fresh from a 2-0 home win Wednesday over Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foe Manhattan College, takes to the road for a Saturday afternoon game at Canisius College. The game, set for 1 p.m. can be watched on MAAC.tv (PPV) and followed via livestats (free).
The Stags are 7-5-1 overall and 3-1-1 in conference play and are tied for fourth place with 10 points entering play on Saturday. The Griffs are 3-11-1 on the season, having lost four straight, and are 1-5-0 in MAAC play and in 10th place with three points.
Sarah Frassetto (Trumbull, Conn.) scored the first goal of her collegiate career, knocking home a corner kick from Nikki Stanton (North Bend, Wash.) 78 seconds after intermission with what would prove to be the only goal the Stags needed. Pam Coufos (North Andover, Mass.) added an insurance goal moments later after Jessica Broadbent (North Haven, Conn.) created the opportunity with a one-touch pass out of the back to free the Stag forwards.
The assist gave Stanton five for the season, tops on the Stags roster and among the top in the league. She has tallied nine points, second on the team to only Ashley Small (Melville, N.Y.). Small, who also leads the team with seven goals, has tallied 15 points this fall, both of which are second in the conference.
The Fairfield defense was impressive once again, with the back line not allowing Manhattan to put a shot on frame. In fact, the Stags defense allowed just five shots on the night to lower the team's GAA to 0.98 for the year. Kathleen Early (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) earned the clean sheet, fourth of the season, and has a 0.84 GAA over 965 minutes of play this fall.
Canisius has lost four straight one goal games, since defeating Rider 2-1 at home on September 25. The Griffs have been blanked three times in league play, and in six MAAC games are being outscored 8-4. Brianna Smith is the offensive leader with seven goals and 15 points, while Mallory Illsley has three assists to go along with three goals for nine points. Megan Toch has played nearly 1300 minutes in goal this season and enters play on Saturday with a .795 save percentage and a GAA of 1.67. Canisius has been outscored 29-17 on the year and have 13 assists on their goals. The Griffs have a 65-60 edge in corner kick chances, but are being outshot 276-199.
