WEST POINT, N.Y. -- A late first half goal and a pair of late second half tallies were the difference in Friday afternoon's men's
soccer game between Fairfield University and Army West Point as the Black Knights posted a 3-0 win over the Stags at Clinton Field.
There were not a lot of opportunities early in the game but those that did present themselves seemed to belong to Fairfield. In the seventh minute, the Stags earned the game's first opportunity when Don-Junior
Bobe put a shot toward goal that forced Army goalkeeper Justin
Stoll to make a save. Fairfield followed with a pair of corner kicks with a couple minutes of
Bobe's shot, but neither of the resets resulted in a shot on goal. Army nearly grabbed the lead in the ninth minute as Rex
Epps pushed a shot toward goal but saw the ball carom off the crossbar to keep the game at 0-0.
Ben
Wignall also created a scoring chance with a shot that headed toward goal, but another stop by
Stoll kept the game scoreless in the
18th minute. On the Black Knights' third and final shot of the half, Keenan
O'Shea found himself open on the right side which gave him a chance to bend a shot around the goalkeeper and into the far corner and sent the home team into the locker room with a 1-0 lead.
Both teams put together threats in the opening minutes of the second half, beginning with Tyler
Mitchner's shot that forced Fairfield goalkeeper
Jack Robinson to make a save in the
52nd minute. A minute later,
Wignall found free space and unleashed a shot that
Stoll put a hand which preserved the slim lead. With the game still 1-0, the Black Knights put the game out of
reach with two goals just 80 seconds apart, the first coming on
Epps shot which completed a cross from
O'Shea to double the Black Knights' advantage at 2-0.
Epps buried his second goal of the game at 75:24, accepting a pass from Shaban
Abousaud and sending the ball past the Stags' goalkeeper.
Steven
Valente put Fairfield's last shot on goal in the
80th minute but once again
Stoll was able to make a play which kept the shutout intact. The Stags made one last effort to find the back of the net with eight minutes remaining, earning three straight corner kicks from Matt
McGlinchey but none of those set pieces dispatched a shot on goal.
The Stags will return to campus for their first home game of the season when they host Lafayette College on Monday, September 4 at Lessing Field. The game is scheduled for 7 pm.
