Riding a four-game winning streak the Fairfield University women's soccer team begins its final week of the regular season with a Wednesday afternoon game at Siena College. The Stags, currently in second place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), are 10-5-1 overall and 6-1-1 in conference play, while the Saints are 8-7-1 on the year and 4-3-1 in MAAC play, good for fifth place.
Fans unable to attend the game can follow livestats courtesy of Siena, free of charge.
A victory on Wednesday, or the Stags regular season finale at Rider University on Saturday, clinches Fairfield at least second place in the MAAC regular season standings. The 2013 MAAC Tournament will be played October 31-November 4 at ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Fla. The Stags have eanred a bye into the quarterfinals, meaning their first tournament game will be Friday, November 1.
Fairfield has blanked four of its last six opponents, including the last two, and has not allowed a goal in 254 minutes of action. In the last two games, shutouts of Iona and Niagara, the Stags have allowed just six total shots, and only three on goal. Kathleen Early stopped all three of those shots, lowering her GAA to 0.73 and giving her six solo shutouts on the year. All told, the Fairfield defense has seven clean sheets and has allowed just 14 goals in 16 games played.
The Fairfield offense has been clicking on all cylinders of late, scoring 14 goals during the current four-game win streak. After scoring just one goal in a season opening three-game losing streak, and have netted 27 tallies since, with the squad going 10-2-1 in that time span. Included in that run is an unbeaten mark of 7-0-1 on Lessing Field, as the 2013 squad becomes the first in program history to complete a home campaign unbeaten.
Rookies stole the show on Senior Day, scoring all four of the Stags goals in the win over Niagara on Saturday. Brenna Brown scored her second collegiate game winner, while Cassidy Boegel and Anna Borea notched the first goals of their Fairfield careers. Sydney Arestivo also tallied a goal, her second of the season. Jessica Broadbent assisted on the final two goals of the afternoon, for her first career points, which Karolyn Collins also earned with an assist on the Boegel goal.
Fairfield has doubled up its opponents in scoring, 28-14, with 12 different players scoring at least once this season. All told 20 Stags have scored at least a point this season, with 16 notching multiple points on the year. Fairfield has a 228-152 advantage in total shots and a 94-48 edge in corner kick chances for the season.
The Saints offense is paced by the league's leading scorer Brittany Pfaff and her 28 points. She leads the team in goals, 12, and assists, four, as well, and has netted four game-winning tallies. No other Saint is in double figures, but Tara Sobierajski has nine points on three goals and three assists. Taylor Booth has started all 12 of the games she has played and has minded the net for nearly 1,100 minutes. She has 48 saves, a .762 save percentage, a 1.23 GAA and four clean sheets. Siena is being outscored 22-21 on the year, despite having a 249-233 shot advantage for the year. Siena also has a corner kick advantage, 83-68. The Saints are 7-2-0 at home on the year.
