WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – All of the hard work that the Fairfield University Women's Soccer team has invested since those long August days of preseason has led to this match. The Stags will battle for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship as they travel for a showdown with the tournament's top seed Monmouth Hawks in West Long Branch, N.J., on Sunday at 4pm. With a victory, the Stags will claim their first conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008.
 
In a season full of excitement, the Stags are coming off their most hair raising victory of the season as Gabby Diodati provided the game's only goal in the 78th minute and sophomore goalkeeper Aytana Muschajew made two incredible saves inside the final 10 minutes of the match in a 1-0 shutout victory over in-state rival Quinnipiac.
 
Diodati's fifth goal of the season was a highlight reel type play as the team's top playmaker found the ball inside the box after a nice pass from Julia McGuire. Diodati would spin across three defenders to find space on the right side of the net and made an incredible finish for the 1-0 lead. With her fifth goal, Diodati has now moved into second place in the MAAC with 18 points.
 
Muschajew kept the game scoreless as she provided Fairfield's eighth clean sheet of the season. The sophomore racked up four saves but her final pair were the most impressive, including a fully extended dive to stop a header with just four minutes left.
 
The Stags will be making their 11th trip all-time to the MAAC Championship Game and the first under Head Coach David Barrett. The Stags are 7-3 all-time in the championship game, with the seven wins representing the most among any active MAAC school.
 
Fairfield's last appearance came during the 2014 season, where they would tie Rider 1-1, but fall in penalty kicks on Monmouth's field. That was Fairfield's second-straight year in the finals, falling to Monmouth in 2013 at Orlando, Fla.
 
Fairfield's last MAAC Championship came in 2008, as they defeated Loyola (Md.) on the road, 3-0. The MAAC Championship's Most Outstanding Player Ahna Johnson led the Stags with a hat trick, accounting for all three scores.
 
The Stags last battled Monmouth in the regular season finale, falling to the Hawks on the road 2-0. The Stags nearly tied the match up late, however, with a header from Julia McGuire hitting off the crossbar the final two minutes of the game. Monmouth would stop that opportunity and sprint down the field in a counter attack to provide the final 2-0 score.
 
The match will feature the two best offenses with the Stags leading the conference with 44 goals and Monmouth placing second with 40. The 44 scores ranks in the top-20 in the NCAA and is the most by any Fairfield team since the 2005 season when they also scored 44. The Stags would also win the MAAC Championship during that 2005 campaign.
 
While the Fairfield offense has been one of the best in the conference, the Monmouth defense has been one of the best in the country, surrendering just four goals in over 1580 minutes this season. The Hawks lead the NCAA with a 0.23 goals against average and are allowing only 5.9 shots per game this season. They have posted eight-straight shutouts, totaling over 720 clean minutes.
 
Fairfield will be bidding for their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008, and the first under the 2019 BSM MAAC Coach of the Year David Barrett. In just his second season under the helm, Barrett has turned around a program that finished ninth in the MAAC last season and picked seventh in the preseason conference poll to the Championship Final. In his previous stop at Illinois Wesleyan, Barrett reached the NCAA Tournament 10 times, and eight times in his last nine seasons.
 
Kick-off is slated for 4pm on the campus of Monmouth University.