FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Tonight was not the night to leave Lessing Field early. For those who wanted to beat traffic, well they missed two goals in the final 20 seconds of the match as the Fairfield University men's soccer team remained unbeaten in Metro Conference play with a 3-0 win over Manhattan University.
And the catalyst for those two goals was the same catalyst who has been involved in practically every goal this season.
Cristiano Carlos set up both goals with long passes into danger area, giving
Illia Tyrkus and
Sean Albritton the opportunity to finish the scoring chances.
With the victory, the Stags improved to 3-0 in conference play while also extending their unbeaten streak to seven matches, posting a 5-0-2 mark during those contests which includes four straight victories. Fairfield has now outscored its Metro Conference opponents by a 9-1 count including a 7-0 margin this week.
Just as effective as the offense has been, the Stags back line has been even better. The defensive unit yielded just seven shots tonight and only able to put two on target. Fairfield goalkeeper
Evan Chomow made two acrobatic saves to preserve his third shutout of the season, gaining clean sheets against UConn, Saint Peter's, and Manhattan. The sophomore lowered his goals against average to 1.14 and raised his save percentage to .780.
"Our success starts in the back," Carlos said. "When they are hyped it just spreads through the whole team. When the defense plays well, the team plays well too."
While the accolades are impressive, tonight's win was about an effort against a well-organized side that did not relent until the 56
th minute of the match. Fairfield had the better of things through those 56 minutes as the Jaspers managed just two shots in the first half. One of those attempts challenged Chomow who had to extend right to put his hand on the ball and keep it out of the net.
The Stags managed eight shots in the first half and put two on goal but both were turned away resulting in a scoreless draw by halftime.
Things opened up in the second half for the Stags as they were able to keep control more often and play most of the time on Manhattan's side of the pitch. The break finally came in the 56
th minute when
Pipeloore Olanrewaju found open space on the left channel and sent a cross through the box where
Alex Vaz completed the chance with a shot to the upper right corner.
"Alex is a different maker," Head Coach
Krystian Witkowski said. "He's an impact player that isn't just good on the ball. He's good defensively as well. But I think you also have to give praise to Loore and Massimo (Murania) who had tremendous shifts today. They controlled the ball well and created chances which resulted in that goal."
Fairfield was unable to put the game away until the final minute though. Manhattan continue to move the ball forward with urgency, trying to find some way to find success against the back line. In the final minute, Carlos set up his first assist with a pin-point cross to Tyrkus who finished to the far corner to bring the score to 2-0.
With the final second ticking down, Carlos gained control on the Fairfield defensive third and sprint down the left channel before releasing the ball to Albritton who put the ball into the back of the net for the 3-0 margin.
Fairfield will now pack its bags for a pair of road games next week beginning with the short trip to Quinnipiac University on Wednesday, October 7 before heading to Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, October 10.
