FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The long throw of Allie Kirby found the right foot of Reagan Klarmann and the senior finally beat the Sacred Heart goalkeeper, leading the top-seeded Fairfield University Women's Soccer team to a 1-0 victory over eighth-seeded Sacred Heart and advancing the Stags to the MAAC Semifinals. The Stags out-shot Sacred Heart 25-1 in the contest and will play in the semifinals for the fourth-straight season.
 
"A really good, gritty, and resilient performance to advance," Head Coach David Barrett said. "Tournament soccer is tough and we showed some good experience to move forward."
 
Just like in their first meeting, the Stags (16-2-1) struggled to beat Sacred Heart goalkeeper Kyran Thievon as she recorded 12 saves in the match, with 10 of those coming in the first half. Fairfield put 18 shots towards net in the first 45 minutes but all 10 on target were eventually stopped by Thievon.
 
Fairfield finally broke through in the 57th after earning a throw in. Kirby would send a long throw that would reach the middle of the box, eventually finding Klarmann and beating Thievon to the lower left corner. The goal was Klarmann's sixth of the season and the 14th of her career. Six of those 14 goals have been game-winners.
 
The defensive backline of Sam Erickson, Caroline Kelly, Meghan Carragher, and Kendall Patten allowed just one Sacred Heart shot in the 90 minutes, coming in the 37th minute.
 
The top-seeded Stags will now host fifth-seeded Manhattan on Thursday night at 7pm.