HAMDEN, Conn. – After being held scoreless for the first 80 minutes of the match, both teams tallied clutch goals late as the Fairfield University Women's Soccer team fought to a 1-1 draw at Quinnipiac in a rematch of last year's championship match.
Ashley McMahon put the Stags ahead 1-0 in the 80th minute, touching net off a pass from
Payton Zaun, but Quinnipiac was able to record the draw with a score in the final minute.
"In the big scheme of things a point on the road isn't the worst thing," Head Coach
David Barrett said. "We were not our best today. We have to figure out how to play games on the road in this league. We almost stole it. I thought we did a good job in the second half and made a couple of tactical adjustments and thought the kids performed well in that capacity."
The adjustments the Stags made at halftime helped increase the offensive pressure as the squad tallied nine shots in the second half compared to just two in the first 45 minutes.
Fairfield's biggest break came in the final 10 minutes as Zaun sent a cross to the back post where McMahon was able to collect and push her shot past the keeper for a 1-0 lead.
The Stags struggled with Quinnipiac's counter allowing two shots on net just two minutes later, but
Katie Wright was able to stop both shots including diving to her right to keep the clean sheet alive.
Quinnipiac was able to get the ball back in the box in the final minute where Corey Anderson was able to find the equalizer with 40 seconds remaining.
Fairfield was able to put six shots on target with McMahon leading the team with three.
Meghan Carragher also forced two saves and
Sam Kersey one-timed a shot in the second half that was stopped by the Bobcats' goalkeeper.
Wright was credited with five saves with her two most impressive stops coming in the final 10 minutes of play.
With the draw, the Stags snap their six-game winning streak which was tied for the second-longest in the nation.
Fairfield will be right back on the pitch when they return home to host Siena on Saturday at 1pm.
