The Fairfield University Women's Soccer team has begun a 10-day journey in England that will feature sight seeing and three friendlies against the local competition. FairfieldStags.com will update fans of their experience with first person account of their journey

Blog Post #5 - Game Recap from Head Coach David Barrett

Greetings from London!
 
It's been a busy and wonderful six days in England. There have been a number of memorable moments from the week, but the main reason the Stags are here is for the soccer, and on that front it's been a tremendous success.
 
The Stags compiled a 3-0 record on the trip by finishing with a 4-2 win over Watford FC Ladies Thursday night in suburban London.  Our opponents were a combination of players from their first team who compete in the English Super League 2 and their reserves. For a comparison, we felt that Watford would be a team that would finish in the top half of conferences like the MAAC and the Patriot League. So, we felt it was a pretty good level to gauge our squad's development.
 
Additionally, this was the third game in 5 days for the team which, coupled with the touring we've been doing (i.e. walking all over England!!) made for some very tired legs and tired minds. Nonetheless, the Stags were up for the challenge on the night!
 
What Happened: Once again, the Stags jumped out to a quick lead when Alex Madden scored in the first minutes of the game. She caught the goalkeeper napping and cleverly stripped her of the ball and dribbled into an empty net giving the Stags a 1-0 lead.
 
Unfortunately, the lead was short lived as Watford struck back with 2 goals within 10 minutes of each other. A couple of mental and physical breakdowns by the Stags led to the chances by Watford. Again, this is an area that we need to improve upon through the course of the spring season. The good news is that we kept a clean sheet through the second half after making some adjustments so it was a step in the right direction!
 
The team showed great character in responding to conceding the lead. We tied the score and then went ahead with 2 goals late in the first half, both by Madden. Her second goal came from a nifty through pass by Holly Habyan to knot the score at 2, then Liz Dumas slipped a great pass in for Madden to give the Stags a 3-2 halftime lead.
 
At the break we were able to catch our collective breaths and calm ourselves down. I felt the team was playing with heavy legs and tired minds and we needed to adjust the pace with which we were trying to play. We had the lead, but were not doing a great job of keeping the ball and establishing any tempo to the game. We were giving the ball away unnecessarily, giving Watford too much of the possession. I think a lot of our mistakes had to do with us trying to play fast, especially in transition. The problem was our bodies weren't up for the pace after the week we've had on the road. We needed to calm the pace down a bit and find rhythm to our play that including going fast at times, while slowing down other times.
I thought we played much more in control in the second half, and we managed to not only hold the lead but expand on it when Jenn Wahlig nodded in a free kick from Mel Hingher, giving the Stags the final margin of victory.
 
In Summary: I was really pleased and proud of our team. Every field player played in every game and contributed to the outcomes. The games have provided the players a chance to demonstrate to the coaches what they can do, giving us a baseline to work from when we get home. This team is learning how to win. Developing the character to show grit, determination, and trust takes time to cultivate. I think the team is making strides in that direction, though, and I'm really excited to get home and begin our more traditional spring season. Our first spring game will be on March 28 at home when we face Sacred Heart at 7pm.
 
Thanks for your support and Go Stags!


Blog Post #4 - From Head Coach David Barrett

Greetings from Cambridge, England!
 
We've crossed the midway point of the tour and I write to you today from the motorway (not the highway or freeway ;)) on the way to Cambridge. We will have a few hours today to explore the historic city and see the campus of the beautiful university located there.
 
The Stags had a busy day yesterday visiting York and competing in our second game of the tour against Sheffield United first team. I know the players will be submitting their impressions of the day as well, so I'll let them describe their day as tourists and instead focus my comments on the game last night.
 
The Bottom Line: The Stags won their second game in a row on the tour with a 4-3 win over Sheffield United Ladies. Our opponents play their soccer in the English Women's League's 3^rd Division, which is largely comparable to the majority of NCAA division 1 teams in the US. They were quick and organized and definitely presented a good challenge for us. So, to come away with a good result was terrific for the Stags.
 
How the game went down: As the teams took the field, we knew that our opponents would be stronger than our first game. They clearly looked the part and when the game started we weren't surprised to see them put us under immediate pressure. I thought we handled things really well however, and scored twice inside the first ten minutes to jump out to a quick lead.
 
Our first goal came from a corner kick when Sheffield wasn't able to effectively clear the ball. Julia McGuire collected the half clearance and found Sara Plowman at the top of the penalty box. Plowman gathered the ball and slotted home a shot that beat the keeper to the corner for an early 1-0 lead. The Stags doubled their lead when Plowman and Alex Madden combined sending Madden in on goal on a counterattack. It was a great transition chance that was very well executed.
 
Unfortunately, we allowed Sheffield back into the game with a couple of lapses in our defending. We conceded after failing to clear a corner kick and then allowed the second when we mishandled a serve that deflected off one of our players and into our goal.
 
One of our objectives on this tour is to grow our team character and develop a belief that we CAN win even when things don't look good. Once again we let a team we had on their back foot back into the game, but the Stags didn't fold. In fact, our response was scoring again when Plowman picked off a ball from Sheffield's backs and found herself in alone on the keeper. She calmly chipped the onrushing keeper to reclaim a lead for the Stags. We increased the lead in the second half when Gabby Diodati and Holly Habyan had a very nifty combination to send Diodati in to give the Stags a 2-goal cushion. As it turned out, this goal proved to be the winner as we conceded a late penalty but held on for the victory.
 
Moving Forward: There are far more good things than bad from the first two games here in England. For starters, there've been 2 wins. It's important for our squad to BELIEVE we can win. I think we've shown some good signs that are giving the team some confidence in what the new coaching staff has been teaching, and making a statement about our character. The team WANTS to win and the past couple of games the team has responded to in-game challenges. The work rate on the field has been really terrific and to me that is a strong sign of commitment on the part of the players. Conceding 5 goals in 2 games isn't going to cut it in pursuit of MAAC championships, so certainly an area we need to improve. But to be fair, the team and coaches know that all of these breakdowns can and will be fixed as the coaches have more opportunity to teach this spring. I've been pleased with our defending in the attacking and middle thirds however, which has led to a lot of great scoring chances. 12 goals in 2 games is definitely a step in the right direction.
 
What's Next: We play our final game of the tour on Thursday night (8pm local time) when we travel to London to play Watford. We believe this will be our toughest challenge on the trip, but to get a positive result would be a huge boost of confidence for our team as we continue to form our identity as a new team.
 
Thanks again for following along and supporting us. Go Stags!


Blog Post #3

Ello People Across the Pond,
 
We started our Monday off with a bus ride up to Old Trafford. We were lucky enough to go on an unbelievable tour of the home stadium that hosts Manchester United. Within this tour, we explored the museum of the premier league team, learned about their history, saw the pitch from several different views, and even got to go in their locker room (which we learned is actually called a changing room)! We also got to take a seat in the press conference room where Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho had spoken just days before and after their match. After our tour, we got back on the bus and headed south towards Stoke, where we had tickets to see the Stoke City vs Manchester City game. The stadium was overwhelming to say the least. Chant after chant, we all had goosebumps as we watched the best team in the premier league take down Stoke City. We enjoyed cheering on our fellow American, Geoff Cameron and some of our favorite players Kevin De Bruyne, Ederson Moraes, and Peter Kroch just to name a few. After an unreal day, we crashed in a hotel in Leeds, and tried to get some rest for Tuesday. Monday's are rough… am I right?
 
Tuesday began with a quick bus ride to the city of York, home of the York Minstry. We got to experience the unique Shambles Marketplace which is the inspiration for Diagon Alley (Harry Potter fans, you know what we are talking about) and home of the world's best crepes (well at least we think so)! The beautiful architecture did not end there, we climbed the stairs to Clifford's Tower and made our way towards York Minstry. The breathtaking church left us all speechless, and many of us were able to light a candle and say a prayer in it.  
 
After a long day of sight-seeing and a pre-game team meal, we were off to Sheffield for our second friendly of the week. We battled against Sheffield United, and came up with a result of 4-3 to get us our second win of the week! Sara Plowman contributed two goals while Alex Madden and Gabby Diodati each contributed one.
 
Wednesday morning, we woke up in Leeds and made the well worth 3-hour bus ride to Cambridge. In Cambridge, we got to adventure around the jaw-dropping University of Cambridge. We did our fair share of shopping, eating, and taking pictures of the unreal city.
 
After a couple hours in Cambridge, we are headed off to Northern London to arrive at our third and final hotel destination. We will spend the next four days in London where we will unfortunately conclude our trip. Time is flying by, but the memories are forever. And on that note, we are going to take a quick nap… the jet lag is real.
 
Beware of the cobblestones… they will trip you up.
 
Cheers,
FUWS


Blog Post #2

Greetings from the Midlands!
 
Our tour is off to a great start! I'm so pleased with the mood and attitude of the team on our first road trip as a group since I joined the Stag program in January. It's been a true whirlwind for me personally: becoming acclimated to a new group of athletes, trying to implement a blueprint for style and principles of play, all the while juggling being 800 miles away from my wife and kids. It is getting a little more settled in some ways, and in others won't be 'normal' for a few more months when (mostly) the transition back to New England will be complete. But, the team has been great in welcoming me as one of their own which helps tremendously in the transition.
 
In the meantime, it's all about the Stags women's soccer program. We had a week or so of team training before leaving for England, which was good to get a look at everyone and introduce myself to the team in the training context. Heading into our first game Sunday against Coventry United (3^rd Division team), I was optimistic but honestly didn't know what to expect from my new team or the opposition.
 
I think everyone was a little nervy ahead of the kickoff. However, all nerves were quieted when we scored 3 minutes into the game: freshman Alex Madden, playing in front of a lot of friends and family near her hometown, scored the first of her four goals on the day. Junior Holly Habyan sent a perfectly placed through ball into the path of onrushing Madden who dribbled around the keeper for a 1-0 Stag lead.  We stretched our lead to 2-0 when junior Sara Plowman found the back of the net just a short time later. Before we knew it, we had control of the game. It was quite a nice surprise and even though only a friendly on a foreign tour, it certainly was a nice start for the new coaching staff.
 
Momentum was temporarily halted when we gave away a couple of bad goals against the run of play to let Coventry back into the game. At this point, even at 2-2, I didn't think we'd lose but it was important for the team to believe we weren't going to lose. Given the recent history of the program, this wasn't a certainty by any means.
 
After a short spell where we needed to get our feet back under us, Madden found the back of the net again and gave us a 3-2 halftime lead we would never relinquish. In fact, by midway through the second half Madden, Alexa DiComitis, Maggie Walsh, and Julia McGuire all scored to put the game to bed. Madden added her 4^th in the final minutes to give the Stags our final margin of victory, 8-2. Honestly, we could have had a lot more as we created many, many good chances during the course of play.
 
All in all, it was a great day to be a Stag women's soccer team. Every healthy player saw time in the game and gave my staff and me a chance to get a look at the squad in a game environment. Our next game is Tuesday against Sheffield United in what should be a more competitive game for us.
 
In the meantime we have some touring to do! As I write this, we are in the bus driving through the rain (nice English weather ;)) up to Manchester. We get to see Old Trafford today and it will be a huge thrill for the players. Then tonight, we get to see arguably the best team in the EPL in Man City as they play at Stoke City. I know I am really excited to see this game, and I'm sure the team is over the moon about this.
 
We will continue to provide updates on our tour, both the games and our fun activities, until it concludes on Sunday.
 
Thanks for your support and Go Stags!
 
Dave Barrett
Head Coach of Women's Soccer


Blog Post #1
 
*British accent*
 
Cheerio Lad!
 
We began our journey with a quick jump over the pond!
 
As soon as we landed in England we were greeted by our fun filled tour guide, Mike, and our talented driver Will…what more could we ask for!
 
Our first stop was the beautiful city of Oxford. We were dropped off at the Ashmolean Museum and were sent to discover the University city streets. Some Stags went to explore sights like St. Mary the Virgin, Radcliffe Camera, and Bridge of 'Sighs', while other Stags immersed themselves in the covered market and shopping!
 
Then we traveled countryside through The Midlands and arrived at our quant hotel adjacent to the Mercure castle. We ran into some flooded side streets along the way but it was nothing our driver Will couldn't handle. We took our bus to the practice facilities and got to shake the jet lag out of our legs. The sky and weather was beautiful during training! After staying awake for over 24 hours we were excited to jump right into bed.
 
The next day we got to explore Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-on-Avon. We saw cute British children (kids all over the world are apparently equally darling) feeding swans in a canal that went through the middle of town! Fun fact: all swans and crows are legally owned by the Queen! That's a big supply of bird food even for a Queen!
 
Then we departed to the pitch for our first match of football against Coventry United. We won!! It was a team victory with goals coming from Alex Madden (4), Sara Plowman (1), Julia McGuire (1), Alexa DiComitis (1), and Maggie Walsh (1).
 
After the match, we explored Coventry and learned about the history if this industrialized city. In the heart of the city lays the original church that was bombed during World War II. Next to this cite is the modern church that was built after the bombing in remembrance of all the victims.
 
Tomorrow we are looking forward to touring Old Trafford, the stadium of Manchester United and going to see Stoke City v. Manchester City! It is going to be an amazing day filled with amazing football! Can't wait!
 
We'll check back in with you all in a couple days!
 
Cheers!
FUWS