FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University men's soccer team will return to the pitch for another Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) match on Friday afternoon. The Stags will travel to Jersey City for a 1 pm kick off against Saint Peter's University, the team's third conference date of the 2021 spring season. Fairfield won its season opener at Canisius College before dropping its home opener against Quinnipiac University in two overtimes.

Through the first two games, Head Coach Carl Rees' back four has performed admirably, allowing just one goal in nearly 200 minutes of work. Goalkeeper Gordon Botterill has anchored the defensive unit with another stellar start to a season. The senior owns a 0.46 goals against average with an impressive .857 save percentage. The goalkeeper has surrendered just one goal with six saves, opening the campaign with a shutout against the Golden Griffs.

The Stags offense opened the season with a pair of goals against Canisius as Cormac Pike was credited with the game-winning goal while Alex Oliveira added the insurance with a second-half goal. Oliveira was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week after his performance, while Botterill picked up the conference's Defensive Player of the Week to complete the Stags' accolades.

Saint Peter's will open their 2021 spring season on Friday, the first of six remaining game on the Peacocks' slate. The program was selected as the top-ranked team in the MAAC Coaches Preseason Poll, a designation earned based on the return of most of a roster that scored 43 goals in 2019. The team has the good fortune of relying on nine seniors. The Peacocks come off a season in which they won all seven home games and nine of 10 conference games.

Dominic Laws is at the heart of the returning student-athletes, scoring 12 goals and 31 total points during the 2019 campaign. For his efforts, Laws was named the 2019 MAAC Player of the Year as well as a member of the All-MAAC first team. He followed his 2019 success by being chosen the 2021 MAAC Preseason Player of the Year by the MAAC coaches. Jordan Jowers complements Laws after putting together his own stellar season. Jowers started all 19 games in 2019, posting nine goals and six assists for 24 points.