FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University men's soccer team finished the home portion of its regular season with a 2-2 draw against Canisius University on the day that the Stags program honored their seniors and graduate students.

For the first 50 minutes of the match, the game was very methodical as both teams moved the ball deliberately while trying to find a crack in each other's defensive core. Canisius sent the ball from side to side with the hope of trying to break one of its forwards on a center run or down the flank. Fairfield attacked with more aggression which resulted in more early opportunities.

But opportunities were occasional in the first half and through the first five minutes of the second half. The Stags held a slight edge in shots during the first 45 minutes, outshooting the Golden Griffs by a 5-3 count. However, only one of those shots was on target, an attempt by Canisius' Dylan Rice in the 24^th minute that Fairfield goalkeeper Victor Nikolov handled without much concern.

What happened over the next 16 minutes was rather remarkable considering the defensive posture set by both teams. In those 16 minutes, four goals were scored with Fairfield netting the first two before Canisius rallied with a pair of scores not too long after the Stags' surge.

In the 51^st minute, William Pierce carried the ball effectively into the offensive third and found Kris Naicker waiting at the top of the box. The senior released a shot found its way into the right corner of the goal just inside the post to put Fairfield in the lead.

The lead was doubled in the 58^th minute when Brett Sieg used keen awareness to score the next Fairfield goal. With Canisius' goalkeeper drifting far off his line, Sieg secured the ball, saw the chance, and sent a long shot from just over the midfield stripe and watched the ball carry into the top part of the goal.

Less than a minute later, Canisius worked through space on the pitch until Mason Petrucci found a way to spring Ely Sidibe who took up residence on the left side of the box. Nikolov was forced to come forward to cut down the angle but Sidibe was able to just catch the far corner to bring the score to 2-1.

In the 67^th minute, the Golden Griffs would work its way back to even when they were awarded a corner kick. Petrucci stood over the ball and sent a cross to the near post where Sidibe was able to just get a header on target for the tying goal.

Canisius continued to press later in the half and took six more shots, three of which required a save and one that bounced off the cross bar. The Stags also had a few opportunities, most notably a shot from Sam Danner that carried just wide of the left post and an attempt from Devin Zachry that drifted over the cross bar.

By game's end, Nikolov finished with five saves off 13 Canisius shots while Griffs goalkeeper Jack Petrie made just one save off 11 Fairfield attempts.

"We are disappointed that we did not close out the result even though I thought we had some of our best moments displayed in this game," Head Coach Krystian Witkowski said. "But we are going to continue to fight and we still have one more opportunity next Wednesday. We'll reflect where we need to be better. We also celebrate the seniors and grads today. We are grateful for everything that they have contributed to this program and we owe it to them to keep fighting."

That next opportunity comes next Wednesday when the Stags will travel up the interstate for a 2 pm match at Quinnipiac University.