NEW HAVEN, Conn – The first-ever crosstown rivalry match belongs to the Fairfield Stags. Pamela Coufos found the back of the net in the 57th minute and Faith Daley capped the phyiscal game in exciting fashion with a buzzer beating goal as the Stags was victorious in the first-ever crosstown rivalry, beating Sacred Heart 2-0 for their first victory of 2016.
"After two tough results on the West Coast trip that helped us prepare for the remaining non-conference slate, we challenged the team with a 'backs to the wall' mentality," Head Coach Jim O'Brien said. "All week in preparation we discussed a 'must-win'" scenario for the game. They all responded very well in the rivalry game."
The Stags (1-2-0) have worked to make the theme of 2016 filled with resiliency, and that quality helped them weather the storm in the second half. After Sacred Heart (1-1-1) took four shots in the opening five minutes of the second frame, the Stags found the back of the net when Coufos collected the ball that was being knocked around near the goal and flung it into the top corner for her first score of the season.
After the goal, the Stags defense settled down, allowing just three attempts in the final 40 minutes. With time running down, Daley launched a shot from 30 yards out over Sacred Heart's goalkeeper Nicole Sambuco which beat the buzzer and capped the 2-0 victory. It was also Daley's first score of 2016.
"We put ourselves into a hole by making poor decisions early on," Coach O'Brien said. "Once we settled down, the game began to go our way and of course the goals came. Having weathered that early second half storm was the difference. In the end, the big difference is that we had the better goalkeeper. Jenna Pike kept our opponent at bay all night and posted a well deserved shutout."
The Stags were the team forcing the offensive pressure in the beginning, taking the first three shots of the contest and six of the eight attempts in the first half. Three of Fairfield's shots were on target, with Coufos putting two attempts on net and Brenna Brown launching one shot in the fourth minute that was hit away by Sambuco forcing a corner kick. Both teams had their attempts at corners in the first 45 minutes, with Fairfield holding the 5-4 advantage.
Despite allowing three corner kicks during the first 30 minutes, the Fairfield defense did not concede a shot until Danielle Karpiej's attempt was saved by Jenna Pike for her only save of the first period.
As aggressive as the Stags were in the early going, the Pioneers turned up the pressure in the second frame, recording four shots in the first five minutes, and forcing Pike to grab two saves. The Pioneers were almost the first team on the scoreboard when Melanie DaSilva launched a shot that hit the crossbar and left Sacred Heart off the board.
The Stags weathered the shooting storm and soon the barrage of Sacred Heart shots would disappear. The Pioneers actually tallied just three shots over the final 40 minutes of the contest. The resiliency of the Stags paid off as they would soon get scores from Coufos and then finally Daley to end the match.
For the game, the Stags out-shot the Pioneers 13-9, with three coming from Coufos, Brown, and Julia McGuire. Sambuco needed six saves in net for the Pioneers while Pike tallied four for the Stags.
The Stags will now look to win both of their games in the Yale Classic when they take on the Bryant Bulldogs on Sunday at 12:30pm.
