For the first time since 2006, a Fairfield varsity sport is going to the NCAA Tournament.
The women’s soccer team earned their fifth berth in the tournament by winning the MAAC Championship, beating Loyola 3-0 in the championship game.
Now, the Stags turn their attention to Oklahoma State, ranked No. 7 in the nation and Fairfield’s opponent in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be played on Friday at Rutgers. The Cowgirls boast the top-ranked offense in the nation and won the Big XII regular season championship. They enter the tournament with a 17-1-3 record and a number four seed in the region. If Fairfield wins, they will face the winner of Rutgers and Penn State.
‘We’re happy to be here,’ said head coach Jim O’Brien. ‘We can beat a quality team because we are one. We’ve gone up against quality teams and tested ourselves.’
O’Brien led Fairfield to the NCAA Tournament his first year as head coach in 2005. Three seniors remain from that team, which lost to Duke 4-0 in the first round.
‘Freshman year we were just happy to be there,’ said senior Caroline Downey. ‘But this year we have a strongteam and we can win.’
Fairfield’s previous trips to the NCAA Tournament have all ended with a first-round loss. But this year, O’Brien and the team feel that they can contend.
‘Four years ago, it was a great experience going,’ said O’Brien. ‘Now we want to win games.
‘We had freshmen who are now some key players who have been through the battles to get ready for this day,’ he added. ‘We are much more athletic, we have more speed, more technical ability.’
Senior Robyn Decker agreed that this year’s team has more potential for winning a game than her freshman year team.
‘We’re more skilled and more dedicated,’ she said.
To get to this point through, Fairfield had to go through two opponents it lost to in the regular season.
In the first round of the MAAC Tournament, the No. 2 Stags faced No. 3 Siena. The game ended in the 0-0 tie after regulation and double-overtime. But Fairfield won 5-4 on penalty kicks. Freshman goalie Kelly Boudreau slid and caught Siena’s last shot while junior Casey Frobey nailed her shot into the back of the net to advance to the championship game.
‘Nauseous,’ said Decker. ‘There’s no way to describe it.
‘But we practice and we were confident and ready,’ she said.
Against Loyola, the Stags started slowly, but senior Ahna Johnson scored three goals to propel Fairfield to the win.
‘We lost to Loyola on the road without Ahna Johnson and beat them on a neutral site with her,’ said O’Brien. ‘Whoever Oklahoma State puts out there, they won’t be a better player or better at leading a team than Ahna Johnson. Not to coin the phrase, but she refused to lose on Sunday.’
The game was scoreless until eight minutes remaining in the first half, when Johnson headed in a corner kick from sophomore Nicole Cavallaro. She scored again midway through the second half, again heading a ball in. She added her third goal four minutes later for the hat trick.
‘We played good,’ said Decker. ‘Against Loyola, we started slow, but once we figured things out we played perfectly.’
Fairfield had four players named to the All-Tournament Team including Johnson, Decker, Boudreau and junior Adrienne Boyer. Johnson was named the Tournament Most Valuable Player and the MAAC Offensive Player of the Year. She was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Women’s Soccer National Team of the Week.
‘We expected her to carry a large load and she played along and proved that she is capable and up to the challenge,’ said O’Brien.
Johnson scored 15 goals, including seven game-winners, this season and ranks 25th nationally in goals per game.
But the Stags will also have to focus on stopping Oklahoma State, which scores 3.48 goals per game, the best rate in the nation.
Fairfield ranks 15th nationally in goals against average, allowing 0.605 per game.
Decker and Downey lead the Stags’ defense along with freshmen Alyssa Decker and Boudreau.
‘That’s the number one thing right there, the senior leadership,’ said O’Brien. ‘They’re tested players who have been through battles and worked hard.’
Fairfield has not yet faced a nationally ranked opponent this season, but beat Yale 3-2 in overtime, tied perennial power UConn 2-2 and tied Harvard 0-0, which also earned a NCAA Tournament bid.
‘We go into any game as prepared as we can be,’ said Downey.
For live coverage of the game against Oklahoma State, go to mirrorsports.blogspot.com.
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