The Fairfield University women's soccer team begins its final week of home play Wednesday night when it hosts Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foe Iona College on Lessing Field at 7p.m. The Stags, winners of two straight, are 8-5-1 overall and are in third place in the league at 4-1-1. The Gaels, are 4-6-4 overall and 3-1-2 in the conference, good for fourth place in the conference standings.
Wednesday's game is YMCA and CFC Appreciation night. All YMCA adult members that show a YMCA ID card, or youth wearing a YMCA t-shirt will receive $1 admission. All CFC youth players in their jersey will receive free admission to the contest. Fans unable to make it to the game can watch live on MAAC.tv (PPV) or follow livestats for free.
Fairfield is 15-3-4 all-time versus Iona with a 7-1-1 mark in home games in the series. The Stags won 4-0 last season in New Rochelle, the first win since 2009. All three of the Iona wins in the series have come in the last 10 years, with Fairfield going 4-3-3 in that time. The series began in 1992 with a 0-0 tie and then the Stags rattled off 11 straight wins before Iona earned its first win in 2004.
The Stags are 5-0-1 at home, the best six game start in program history and can become the first in program history to post an unbeaten home record. The 1997 Stags, which won a school record 18 games, posted a 9-1-0 record at home, the best in program history. That squad lost its home opener, 5-1, before rattling off nine straight home wins. Fairfield has had good home success under Jim O'Brien, now in his ninth season, posting a 42-19-13 record on campus under his tutelage. The 1999 squad opened 4-0-0 before tying Loyola in the fifth game, on its way to a 6-1-1 home record.
Fairfield scored six times in its win over Canisius on Saturday, the most goals the team has scored this season. It is the first time since 2007, also in Western New York, that the Stags reached six in a game, doing so in a shutout of Niagara. Fairfield has scored six or more goals in 17 MAAC game all-time, with a program-record 11 coming in a 2001 win over Saint Peter's. The Stags single-game goal record is 13 in a 1993 win over Wagner.
Ashley Small netted two of those six goals, to raise her team-leading total to nine for the year, with five game-winning tallies. She ranks among the nation's elite in goals and goals per game, and her 19 points is third in the conference. Small had four goals, two game-winners, in her first two seasons and now is tied for seventh in program history with seven career game-winning goals.
Brenna Brown also tallied a pair of goals in the win, scoring twice in the first-half to bring her season total to three scores. Emma Pichl assisted on two goals on the afternoon, her first collegiate points.
Senior Sarah Frassetto enjoyed a solid week, for the Stags, with three points. She netted her first collegiate goal in the win over Manhattan, knocking home the game-winning tally and she added an assist on Saturday in the win over Canisius.
Pichl anchored a Stags defensive effort that allowed Manhattan and Canisius just one goal on 19 shots in 180 minutes of action last week. Fairfield didn't allow the Lady Jaspers to put a shot on frame Wednesday night as the Stags posted their sixth clean sheet of the year. Kathleen Early made five saves in playing all but nine minutes in the two games, lowering her GAA to 0.86. She has stopped 42 shots in 1046 minute of play this fall and has a .808 save percentage.
The Stags have outshot opponents 199-146 on the season, and have earned an 81-45 corner kick advantage. The Stags have outscored MAAC foes 14-4 with an 82-51 advantage in shots and a 41-17 edge in corner kicks.
Iona had a five game unbeaten streak end at Rider on Saturday, falling 3-0 to drop to 4-6-4 on the year and 3-1-2 in MAAC play. The Gaels are 0-5-2 on the road this season and have played five overtime periods in the last five games. Iona has been outscored 17-9 this fall, with assists on seven of those tallies. Nicole Paulucci has scored three times, with an assist, to lead the team in points. Safi Ayinde and Sofia Sanchez have both tallied two assists on the year. Trista Rivera has played 1,317 minute in goal for Iona, stopping 72 shots and enters play Wednesday with a .809 save percentage and a 1.16 GAA. Iona has been outshot 171-100 and has fewer corner kicks, 55-43, while being whistled offsides more often, 36-16.
