Freshman Kasey Schulz chases down fellow freshman Jen Hoy of Princeton in the Stags game against the Tigers on Tuesday night. Fairfield fell to Princeton 1-0 for its second straight loss, following a five-game win streak. The Stags now have two key MAAC games against Marist and Siena this weekend in Fairfield.
After five straight wins, the women’s soccer team has lost two games in a row, the first to Army and the second to Princeton. The two losses drop the Stags to 6-5 overall on the year.
The Stags lost both games by a narrow margin, falling to the Cadets 2-1 and 1-0 to the Tigers with the only goal scored on a penalty kick.
“In the first half I thought we were good at times,” said head coach Jim O’Brien following the Princeton game. “But defensively I thought we weren’t sure of ourselves. Except for the penalty kick when I thought we were overly aggressive.”
O’Brien said the Army game was the same as the Stags made a few mistakes that the opponents were able to capitalize on.
“Defensively, we have some holes in the back,” said O’Brien. “We have some inexperienced players. Alyssa Decker is very talented, but remember, she’s only a sophomore. (Sophomore) Jackie Taylor is learning the position. That leaves (senior) Adrienne Boyer as the only experienced back and she played midfield last season. It’s a hodgepodge back there.”
The penalty kick against the Tigers came with about 28 minutes left in the first half. A Princeton player was going to have sophomore goalie Kelly Boudreau one-on-one before Decker pulled her down.
“I thought we dominated play in the first half,” said Boudreau. “But then a goal like that happens and it’s heartbreaking. There’s nothing you can do about it. When it happens for you, it’s awesome, but it didn’t for us today.”
Fairfield is also hurting up front as Lauren Reilly when down in the Princeton game. The Stags are already missing senior Casey Frobey, who O’Brien is optimistic will be able to return soon. Reilly was being evaluated after the game.
The women’s soccer team won its conference opener last Friday, shutting out Iona 2-0.
The Stags’ fifth straight win at the time came on goals by senior Chrissie Sidie and sophomore Jasmin Corniel. Boudreau also added her third shutout of the season.
But, Fairfield’s winning streak was snapped on Sunday as the Stags fell 2-1 to Army. Corniel scored her team-leading sixth goal of the year in the game, but it wasn’t enough to mount a comeback.
The Stags have played a tough slate this season with the maximum 20 games allowed and good opponents.
“Jim (O’Brien) tries to schedule tough games for us,” said Boudreau. “Even though we lost today, it will help us. We get to see a fast pace and that will help in the conference. Tonight helped us a lot after beating Iona and losing to Army.”
This week is the second week that Fairfield has played Friday, Sunday and Tuesday games. The Stags will have played eight games from Sept. 25 to Oct. 11.
“It’s hardest on the Sunday games,” said Boudreau. “But we have a lot of depth and we are in really good shape.”
Fairfield returns to action this weekend with home conference games against Marist on Friday night at 7 p.m. and against Siena on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both Marist and Siena are currently 2-0 in the conference while the Stags are 1-0. Siena also has only one loss on the year overall.
“It’s a little different this year since every team will play in the conference championship in Disney,” said O’Brien. “But we’re competitive and we want to get a good seed and put ourselves in good position.”
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