FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Sara Plowman and Liz Dumas both scored their second goals of the season and Megan DeFeo made eight saves as the Fairfield University women's soccer team extended their conference record to 2-0 with a 2-0 victory over Iona. With the victory, the Stags start 2-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference for the 16th time in their history, and the seventh time under Head Coach Jim O'Brien.
 
"It was a very strong and collective team effort," O'Brien said. "This group of young ladies has a ton of character and these games, we're not only winning on solid play, but also we've also been very opportunistic. We have been working very well together as a group."
 
Both goals scored tonight could be a part of any highlight reel but the first score of the night off the foot of Plowman was something special. Melanie Hingher set up the play by heading the ball out of the attacking box where Plowman stood all-alone. The junior lofted a ball in the air, nearly 30 yards out, and pocketed the score in the top corner. That goal was the first shot in the game for the Stags (4-4, 2-0 MAAC), coming in the 14th minute.
 
Iona (1-7-2, 0-1-1 MAAC) had their opportunities throughout the game, registering 17 shots, but the junior goalkeeper DeFeo was up for every challenge. DeFeo turned away eight shots, several requiring diving efforts to preserve her fourth career shutout. To keep the clean sheet, DeFeo made her best stop in the 87th minute with a diving stop to her left to stop an attempt from Julia Campagna.
 
DeFeo was helped by a midfield consisting of Faith Daley, Gabby Diodati, Holly Habyan, Kelsey Burke, and Julia McGuire who all helped to keep possession for the Stags.
 
With the Stags holding possession early in the second half, Dumas dribbled the ball to the right of the 18-yard box and unleashed a shot that also went over the keeper and into the goal for her second collegiate score. That score in the 54th minute would close the scoring for the match.
 
While the Stags were out-shot 17-12 in the contest, Fairfield's shots had more quality than the Gaels as seven of Fairfield's attempts were on net, compared to eight of 17 for Iona.
 
With the victory, the Stags are one of three other MAAC teams to start their season 2-0, joining Quinnipiac and Marist. This is the first 2-0 conference start for the Stags since 2014, a year where they won their first four conference games.
 
"It puts you in position to be in control of what you do as we move towards the tournament," O'Brien said. "With everyone qualifying for tournament play this year, you have your sights at being number one. That's what we set out to do, we want to try and win as many games as we can and put ourselves in the best position we can to perform in that tournament."
 
The Stags will try and bring their conference mark to 3-0 for the 12th time in their history when they travel to Lawrenceville, N.J., for a Saturday night match at Rider with kickoff slated for 7pm.