RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Fairfield University men's soccer team traveled to Gaelic Park for an Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) tournament opening round game with Manhattan College, falling to the third-seeded Jaspers by a 2-0 score this evening.

The game featured a pair of first half goals by the Jaspers which proved to the difference today, scoring in the 19^th and 32^nd minutes. The goals were enough despite a spirited second half by the Stags as they limited offensive rushes by Manhattan and used pressure to push forward and create chances.

The Jaspers took the lead when a misplayed ball near the box set up Gunnar Studenhofft. He was able to collect the ball off the miscue and get around the goalkeeper for a tap in to put Manhattan in the lead. The Stags nearly tied the game a few minutes later when Viggo Sjoberg found some open space and put a shot toward goal that required a save.

Manhattan doubled its lead when Studenhofft took control of the ball about 35 yards from goal and carried the ball into a more advantageous position. He found Ronaldo Da Silva making a cut toward goal between a pair of defenders and threated a pass directly to the feet of Da Silva who finished the play for the 2-0 lead.

Goalkeeper James Anderson made a pair of saves in the first half that kept Fairfield close enough to make a run in the second half. The Stags went down both flanks with the hope of centering passes into dangerous areas within the box. The strategy also enabled the Stags to keep Manhattan from attacking and limited the home team to just two shots.

Kaea Rangihaeata made a valiant effort to put the Stags on the scoreboard when he beat his defender, drew the goalkeeper off his line, and released a shot that was headed for the back of the net. The shot was cleared off the line by a Manhattan which kept Fairfield in the two-goal deficit. A few minutes later, Cormac Pike put forth a bid to put cut the lead in half when he rose above his defender and redirected the ball toward goal but the goalkeeper was in place to make the save.

"It was an unfortunate start because they grabbed the first goal and the momentum in the first half," Head Coach Carl Rees said. "We made adjustments though and I thought we were the better team in the second half. I give credit to our guys for showing resilience. They did not stop and were fully committed tonight."

The Stags finished the season with an 8-10-1 overall record and a 4-5-1 mark in MAAC play. Fairfield earned the right to play in the edition of the 2022 MAAC tournament as the number six seed.