NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Whenever you are vying for position in the standings, each point is vital especially when you are playing on the road. The Fairfield University men's soccer team picked up a precious point this afternoon by battling Iona College to a scoreless draw at
Mazella Field. The result gives the Stags, third in the standings with 11 points, a 3-1-2 mark in Metro Atlantic
Athletic Conference and prohibited the Gaels, currently tied for fourth in the
MAAC standings with 10 points, for picking up any ground.
"This was a good point on the road which helped us more than our opponent today," Head Coach
Carl Rees said. "We put forth a great performance defensively and earned another shutout. We received another strong effort from our back four, especially the play of
Marcus Nordgard and
Jonas Vergin."
The Fairfield defense was tested on several occasions during the afternoon, but managed to keep the home team from putting the ball into the net. The Gaels applied pressure consistently with 15 shots in the game, five of which were on goal. But each attempt that was on target ended up handled well by Stags goalkeeper Gordon
Botterill, who made five saves including one in each overtime period. The Gaels final chance came in the final minute when
Killian Colombie directed a shot toward the net but the Fairfield rookie handled the chance with 53 seconds on the clock.
The Stags took five shots in the game but only one of those attempts required a save. Tommy
Lozowski found some open space inside the final third and released a shot that was on target. Iona goalkeeper Juan
Alcantara was able to turn aside the shot just 12 minutes into the game. It would be Fairfield's only shot of the first half. The Stags found better offensive pace in the second half which resulted in four shots but all of those attempts were errant.
Fairfield will complete its New York run on Wednesday when it heads to Manhattan College for a Wednesday night match up with the Jaspers. The two teams will start the game at 7 pm.
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