FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University men's soccer team opened its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) slate with a thrilling 2-1 win over Marist College at Lessing Field. The Stags are now unbeaten in their last three games, posting a 2-0-1 mark over the last two weeks.

"These boys have put together three performances and are showing the consistency that we talked about all season," Head Coach Krystian Witkowski said. "Their potential is starting to show so I really happy with that effort. Everyone contributed tonight against a really tough opponent."

All the scoring came in the first half over a 29-minute stretch of the match with Marist taking the early lead before the Stags responded with a pair of goals that came 15 minutes apart. While there were more opportunities as the game progressed, both teams did not relinquish a goal for the final 50 minutes.

Marist took the early lead when Kyle Evans controlled the ball inside the box after a Fairfield defender push the ball toward the back of the box. Evans collected the ball and sent a shot to the upper right corner of the goal that gave Fairfield goalkeeper no chance to make a save.

Fairfield began to apply more pressure being down a goal and the ball control in the offensive third paid off in the 25^th minute. Devin Zachry, who had just come on the pitch a few minutes earlier, took the ball and sent a cross to the center of the box. William Pierce was able to accept the pass and with one stride released a shot that caught the net for the tying goal.

The Stags took the lead in the 40^th minute with some nifty ball movement around the box. The scoring opportunity was created initially by Alex Olivera who sent a well-struck ball into the right quadrant of the box. Zachry rose up and flicked the ball toward the goal with a header, setting up Jordan Blunschi's header that push the ball past the goalkeeper for a 2-1 lead.

In the second half, both team were able to move the ball around the pitch, but Marist was able to establish more possession in the box which made some anxious moments for the Fairfield faithful.

One of those moments came in the 61^st minute when the Red Foxes were awarded a penalty kick. Skyler Cunha took the opportunity but goalkeeper Viktor Nikolov stayed home and made the save to keep his team in the lead.

Nikolov made two more saves in the match, the first coming just two minutes after the penalty kick and the other during the final minute of the contest. For the night, the goalkeeper faced 13 shots and made five saves to protect the first-half advantage.

"We gave a gritty performance and I loved their effort in the first half," Coach Witkowski said. "The team showcased not just a resiliency but a competitive spirit that we are going to continue to harness for the weeks to come.  This is a big result for us but it's just the start."

The Fairfield University men's soccer team will return to action when it travels to Iona University on Saturday, October 5 for a 2 pm match. It's the first of consecutive road games, finishing off the brief run with a date at Lehigh University on October 15.