HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The Fairfield University Women's Soccer team entered the 2018 season with something to prove. And through their first two matches, they are well on their way. The Stags shutout the reigning Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Champions Hofstra 1-0 in the home opener for the Pride. Freshman Aytana Muschajew recorded her second consecutive clean sheet by picking up a career-high nine saves which allowed Hanley Courter's second half score to stand as the game-winner.
 
"This was a tough gritty road win," Head Coach David Barrett said. "The game went exactly as I thought it would based on style and tempo. Hofstra is a very tough team and we knew what to expect. I think we deserved the goal that we got but we definitely had to hold on at the end when they put us on our back foot. Aytana was terrific and bailed us out with some fantastic saves. We know we can't rely on that all the time but we will take that. I was really pleased with the girls' character and how they responded to the pressure throughout the match."
 
The Stags' (2-0) victory over Hofstra (1-1) snapped the Pride's 13-match unbeaten streak during the regular season. In fact, since Sept. 8, 2017, the Pride had suffered just one setback, 1-0 loss to Auburn in the NCAA Tournament. Hofstra was 13-0-1 since their last regular season loss, which also included two victories in the CAA Tournament.
 
For the second-straight match, a Fairfield rookie provided the lone offense for the Stags. In the first minutes of the second half, senior Holly Habyan sent a ball towards the net that a Hofstra defender failed to clear. Courter came sprinting down the middle and fired a shot into the lower right corner for her first career tally.
 
That score held up because rookie goalkeeper Muschajew stopped everything in sight. She would finish the match with nine saves and her second-straight clean sheet. But most of those stops were not easy. In the 64th minute, Muschajew recorded back-to-back saves that tested her athletic ability. The first stop came diving to her right, but Hofstra would collect the rebound and head a shot towards the center of the net. Muschajew got off the ground and lunged towards the center of the net, barely deflecting the attempt over the net.
 
She would also poke away the ball from a charging striker in the box with 14:30 left in the match.
 
Hofstra appeared to have knotted the game with 24:30 left in the match, but their goal was wiped away on an offsides violation.
 
The Stags were out-shot 15-4 by the Pride, who had nine of those attempts on target compared to two for the Stags. The Pride also collected all four of the corner kicks of the game.
 
Fairfield, off to their first 2-0 start since 2010, will make their 2018 Lessing Field debut when they host Wagner on Friday night at 7:30pm.