The women’s soccer team is on a roll. After a season-opening loss, the Stags have reeled off six straight wins, including two tournament titles.
Fairfield won its second in-season tournament with a 2-1 win over Georgia State, which boasted the fifth-ranked offense in the nation entering the game.
Earlier in the season, the Stags won the Puma Raider Invitational while playing Colgate and Temple.
Fairfield is currently ranked fourth in the NSCAA/Adidas Northeast Region poll and third in the Soccerbuzz.com regional poll. It also received a vote in the NSCAA/adidas national poll.
A diverse group of women has led Fairfield. Eleven freshmen joined the Stags this season after losing five starters from last year’s team.
‘We brought in eleven freshmen to have an impact,’ said Head Coach Jim O’Brien. ‘They’ve worked very hard and earned their opportunities, even in contributing roles. We felt we had the ability to improve, but we are ahead of where we anticipated.
‘We came into the season with the theme that our non-conference schedule was our preseason. We’ve been fortunate that we have won the games we should have and also the games we were competitive in,’ O’Brien added.
Kelly Boudreau ’12 has started all but one game in goal and was named the MAAC Defensive Player of the Week two weeks ago along with Rookie of the Week honors this week.
‘I hoped I would play and it worked out,’ said Boudreau. ‘I hoped I would because I worked hard over the summer. [Head Coach Jim O’Brien] was my premier coach for the past two years, so the style is the same.’
Boudreau made 12 saves on the week along with a 0.93 goals against average and had a save percentage of .800. She is now 5-1 on the year with 31 total saves.
Ahna Johnson ’09, one of the team’s captains and the leading scorer this season (13 points), said that the freshmen have played well.
‘Everybody said, ‘Oh, you lost five starters, it’s a rebuilding year, too bad it’s your senior year,” said Johnson. ‘But I never thought of it as a rebuilding year. [O’Brien] knew last year’s class was leaving and he has been recruiting this class for the past two, three years.’
Johnson’s play over the past week earned her MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. She scored two goals, including the game-winner, in a 3-2 overtime win against Yale and scored two more goals in a 2-0 win against Jacksonville.
She also ranks 30th in the nation with 0.8 goals per game.
Fairfield had to rally to beat Yale, scoring three goals in the final 10:48 for a win over their in-state rival.
‘Technically the win [was big,] said Boudreau, stressing how proud she felt of beating an Ivy League school that is also locally competitive. ‘Plus, we know a lot of the girls on their team.’
Against Georgia State, Casey Frobey ’10 scored a double overtime gamewinner off a header giving the Stags a six-game winning streak. The goal was Frobey’s first of the season. She currently ranks third on the team in points after finishing the season second last year. She was also the leading goal scorer last season with 11.
This weekend, the Stags will face Holy Cross on Friday and UConn on Sunday, both at home.
‘It’s Yale times three or four,’ said Johnson. ‘UConn is a well-established soccer school. It’s a real test for anyone. It’s not a rivalry yet because we haven’t held up our end, but hopefully this year we’ll change it.’
However, O’Brien is hesitant to look past the next game.
‘For the record, we’ve got Holy Cross on Friday. We’ve been good at taking it one game at a time.’
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