FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University men's soccer team will open up the home portion of its 2026 schedule on Tuesday night when it hosts Lehigh University at Lessing Field. The game is slated for a 6 pm start.

The Stags are coming off a pair of games that included teams that were ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Top 25 Poll. And, Fairfield came away with a split against those programs on the road, including a 1-0 win over UConn in the team's last outing.

Head Coach Krystian Witkowski has seen strong play on both sides of the pitch with the offense putting a goal on the board in each of the two matches while the defense responded after yielding two goals to #17 Marshall with a clean sheet.

Goalkeeper Evan Chomow was between the posts for both those games and has opened his 2026 campaign with an .800 save percentage based on his eight saves. He gathered four stops in the season opener against Marshall before making four saves in the shutout of UConn. In addition, Fairfield's back line has kept things tidy inside the box, allowing just 10 of the oppositions 25 shots taken be on target.

Up front, Fairfield has received a boost from newcomer Cristiano Carlos, who has scored a goal in each of his first two games and has accounted for both of the team's goals so far. Both goals have in the latter part of the matches and were impactful. He tied the Marshall match with his goal in the 77^th minute and scored the deciding goal in the 75^th minute against UConn.

Lehigh looks to build off its first two matches against La Salle and Old Dominion, coming into the Fairfield meeting with a 0-2 mark. In the opener, the Mountain Hawks tallied the game's first goal before La Salle answered with four unanswered to take the match by a 4-1 count. Lehigh traveled to Old Dominion for its second game but came up on the short end of a 2-0 result.

Goalkeeper Anton Kinnunen has spent all 180 minutes on the pitch for Lehigh, facing 22 shots and making six saves during the time frame. He started the season as the Patriot League's selection Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year after finishing 2025 with a .710 save percentage and a 1.45 goals against average.

Trey Sheeler, a third team All-Patriot League selection from a season ago, was selected as the Patriot League Midfielder of the Year after he tallied six points in 2025. Both of Sheeler's goals were game winners, helping the team edge Loyola Maryland and Boston University.

The Stags will return to the road later this week when they head to Columbia University for a Saturday afternoon match up. The two teams will kick off at 4 pm.