The Fairfield University women's soccer team begins a stretch of three home games in four outings Wednesday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Manhattan College on Lessing Field. The Stags come into the evening at 6-5-1 overall and 2-1-1 in league play, while the Lady Jaspers are 4-8-1 overall and 1-3-1 in conference action.
The game will be available on MAAC.tv with Ivey Speight and Will Hollingsworth calling the action on the PPV video stream. Fans can also access livestats for free. Any fan that donates a piece gently used or new soccer equipment will receive a free ticket to Wednesday's game. In addition, all youth in wearing a CFC jersey will be admitted free of charge.
Fairfield is 20-1-3 all-time against Manhattan, a team the Stags have played in every season as a varsity program. Fairfield won that first meeting, 3-0, in 1992 and won again in the 1992 championship, 1-0. The 1993 regular season meeting ended in a 3-3 draw, which was followed by 11 consecutive Stag victories. The Lady Jaspers lone victory came in 2003, 2-0, and since then Fairfield is 7-0-2, with four of those games going to overtime. The Stags won last season on Lessing Field, 5-0.
The Stags are off to a 4-0-1 start at home, equaling the best five-game start at home in program history. The 1999 squad opened 4-0-0 before tying Loyola in the fifth game, on its way to a 6-1-1 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 41-19-13 record on campus under his tutelage.
Fairfield went 0-1-1 last week, falling at Monmouth, 2-0, in its last outing and playing to a scoreless draw with Quinnipiac on Lessing Field a week ago. Ashley Small continues to lead the team with seven goals and 15 points and ranks third in the league in both of those categories entering the week. Nikki Stanton is third in the league in assist, with a team-best four, and is second on the squad with eight points. Nine other players have a point this season with Megan O'Brien and Erin Pettersen with a goal and an assist apiece.
Manhattan has been outscored 23-14 on the year and 10-4 in league play, with a 6-0 loss at the hands of Monmouth, a defeat it rebounded from to earn a 2-1 win at Canisius. Erica Modena has a team-best four goals and nine points, while Janie Schlauder and Aislinn McIlvenny both have scored three times. Martine Diamond has a team-best four assists, and the Lady Jaspers have 11 assists on 14 goals this fall. Kristen Skonieczny has played 829 minute in net and boasts a 0.98 GAA and a .842 save percentage, stopping 48 shots with nine goals allowed. Marie Sanzari has minded the net for 375 minutes and has a 3.36 GAA and a .650 save percentage.
