FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Time flies when you're having fun. Well, the 2014 Fairfield women's soccer team has been having plenty of fun this year, reaching a 12-3-1 record and a 6-1-0 conference mark. The Stags will play in their final regular season home match of the year when they welcome the Siena Saints to Lessing Field on Wednesday night in a rematch of last year's MAAC Semifinals. Kickoff is at 7pm.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Fairfield is coming off a special Senior Day game with all nine seniors contributing to a 3-0 win over Canisius. Ashley Small scored two goals for the second time this season and Torey Camporini tallied her second goal of the season and first career game-winning tally. Kathleen Early contributed to the eighth team shutout of the year with three saves. The backline of Emma Pichl, Jessica Broadbent, and Megan O'Brien were able to shutdown the Golden Griffins offense and allow eight shots in the match, just one in the second half. O'Brien also tallied her first assist of the season.
NO SMALL TASK: For the second time this season, senior Ashley Small was named the MAAC Offensive Player of the Week. Small tallied two goals and an assist in Fairfield's 2-0 week and is now tied for the team lead with seven scores this season. The seven goals is tied for fourth in the MAAC. Small also tallied her 24th career goal which cracks the top-10 in program history. Small is currently ranked third in Fairfield history with 11 game-winning goals in her career.
HOW HIGH CAN YOU GO: The 12 victories that the Stags have tallied this season equals the amount of wins that Fairfield tallied all of last year. The 12 wins is the most since 2008 and ranks fifth in program history.
TOP 250: Fairfield is two wins away from yet another milestone achieved this season. The Stags have currently tallied 248 wins in their program history, just two shy of the 250 win plateau. Fairfield will be playing in their 449th game in their history and has an all-time record of 248-150-50.
THE SERIES WITH SIENA: Fairfield and Siena will be playing in their 26th game all-time in the series with Fairfield having a 16-6-3 advantage. The Stags have won the last three decisions including last year's MAAC Semifinals. Fairfield has out-scored Siena 6-0 in those games. The last Siena win came on Lessing Field in 2011, only the second victory for the Saints on the Fairfield campus in the 10 matches played. Small has scored in every game of the series and has five career goals against the Loudonville, N.Y. squad. Erin Pettersen, Molly Moran, and Emily Wieczorek have all tallied an assist in the series. Early has not allowed a goal in her 270 minutes played, picking up six saves.
HELPING THE SUSAN G. KOMEN FUND: The women's soccer team will be wearing pink warmup shirts prior to their match against Siena. The squad is co-sponsoring this even with Soccer Girl Problems, an organization created by three Fairfield women's soccer alumni. The team will be auctioning off their pink shirts at a later date with the proceeds being donated to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Any questions on the event, please contact jobrien@fairfield.edu.
SCOUTING THE SAINTS: Siena comes into the match with a 6-5-5 overall record and a 3-1-3 MAAC mark. Siena is unbeaten in 10 of their last 11 matches. The lone conference loss for the Saints came against Monmouth 2-1 on the road. The Saints out-score their opponents 9-6 in the first half of games, but are out-scored 17-8 in the second. Junior Cassy Landis is having a breakout season, scoring all five of her career goals this season and is coming off an overtime golden goal against Canisius. Tara Sobierajski leads the team with four assists. In goal, the reigning MAAC Defensive Player of the Week Taylor Booth is allowing 1.31 goals per game and has recorded a save percentage of .786. Booth is allowing 0.68 goals per game and has a .877 save percentage in her last 11 outings.
UP NEXT: Fairfield hits the road for the final two games of the regular season. The squad gets their road trip started with an eight hour bus ride to Buffalo, N.Y. for a match against Niagara on Saturday. Game time is scheduled for 2pm.
