FAIRFIELD, Conn. – In the final game of the 2023 season, the Fairfield University men's soccer team put forth one of its best performance of the campaign and came away with a 2-0 win over Quinnipiac University at Lessing Field. The victory put the final touch on a three-game win streak to end the season which started by the Stags giving Iona University its only conference loss of the year.

With a bit of a lively step and a resurgence that can only be brought on by back-to-back wins coming into tonight, the Stags had the better of things from the onset. Alex Oliveira, who just returned to the lineup recently, put the Quinnipiac back line on its heels immediately with a shot that took just 1:18 into the game.

Fairfield would continue to press in the offensive third, a strategy that led to three corner kicks and four shots toward goal. Three of the Stags' attempts required effort from the Bobcats goalkeeper, but none were able to cross the goal line.

That changed in the 20^th minute when Fairfield was awarded another corner kick. William Pierce presided over the ball and sent a cross toward the far post. Malachy McGovern rose above his defender and headed the ball back to the opposite post and tucked it neatly into the upper corner for the Stags' first goal of the evening.

Quinnipiac began to find some success in moving the ball forward and eventually settled into a few scoring opportunities later in the half. The first one did not occur until the 36^th minute when Joao Pinto sent a ball toward the center of the goal where James Anderson waited patiently for its arrival. The Bobcats managed one more shot that needed attention from Anderson but the senior handled the situation without any further danger.

Down a goal at intermission, the visitors found a little more pace due to the urgency of needing the tying goal. The Stags were able to turn away most of those attempts before the ball entered the box. When Quinnipiac did manage to break inside 18 yards, Anderson with support from the back line was able to limit the risk.

Fairfield found its way back to a more aggressive attack later in the half and started to move the ball more fluently down the left and right flanks. It was on one of those pushes that the Stags were able to break through for the second time.

Raz Amir found some space down the side of the pitch and moved quickly toward the corner. He sent a ball toward the center of the box that eluded a couple of Quinnipiac defenders and landed at the feet of Brett Sieg. The midfielder collected the ball, took a step or two and sent the ball into the near corner to improve Fairfield's position at 2-0.

Anderson was tested in the latter minutes of the game including one shot that required full extension. The senior was able to put enough of his hand on the ball to send the shot off the cross bar and out of play in the 89^th minute to keep his clean sheet in place.

For the team, the victory capped a strong finish to the season that included three straight wins off five goals scored during that victories.

"We dominated position and created a lot of chances for the majority of the first half," Head Coach Carl Rees. "The team was tested this season and I think they passed the test in terms of attitude, courage, and honor. All those are traits that we encourage and that showed during the preparation for tonight's match. They wanted to be the better group and I thought we were tonight."