Dan Leitao/The Mirror
Only one month ago, the Fairfield University men’s soccer team was merely trying to pick up its first win of the year after starting off 0-4.
Now they are MAAC regular season champions and have not lost a match since.
Even a bizarre late October snowstorm couldn’t cool off the Stags as they picked up their third consecutive shutout on Senior Day.
“This team believed in us from the beginning of preseason that we had something special here,” said senior Sergio Lara.
And the character of the team is really showing. The Stags will officially embark on the most crucial part of their quest as they fly to Disney World to compete in the MAAC Tournament. Lara is one of only five current players who were a part of Fairfield’s last tournament crown in 2008.
“It’s all about the attitude,” said Lara when comparing this team to the 08’ squad. “It’s the same attitude we had when I was a freshmen. Responsibility, focus, not underestimating your opponent, doing all the small things right in order to succeed.”
Coach Carl Rees also stresses the mindset of this particular bunch.
“This group, the strength is in the collective, is in the mentality. I think the mentality of this group is tremendous,” Rees said.
Unlike that 2008 squad, the Stags will be the top seed in the tournament that starts on Thursday. Sunday’s game was important for Fairfield even though they had already clinched the regular season crown on Friday. The Stags want to keep their momentum going into the tournament.
“Many teams there would be a drop off there because they’ve got the trophy in the trophy cabinet, but there’s just no let off with this group,” said Rees.
“You want to end the season on the high end,” said forward Jon Clements ’14. “[You want to] start on the front foot when you go to Florida…Everyone’s mindset was perfect and it got the job done.”
Clements, who earned MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, tallied two goals in the 3-0 victory against the defending MAAC Champion St. Peters on Sunday.
Since the start of the preseason, the 2011 version of the Fairfield Stags have been on a journey with their goal being to win the conference title. Their road started off bumpy, but that slow start could have helped this squad, as Clements acknowledged.
“Everyone kept their heads up,” he said. “Everyone worked hard week in week out, and I think everyone is [getting] their rewards for putting in effort day in and day out in training.”
Now their course has become gradually smoother, but in tournament play the road to the championship can end abruptly. Unlike in previous years, all ten teams in the conference qualify for tournament play.
As the top seed, Fairfield will face the winner of the play-in game between Canisius and Rider Friday at 1:45 p.m. The goal of the team has been to stay focused on the cause that Coach Rees emphasizes. Jon Clements can see the pieces coming together and knows the character of this team.
“Everyone is a winner on the team,” Clements said. “Everyone just wants it so much, I really feel like we’re going down to Florida and give it our best, do what we’ve been doing keep the ball rolling and come back with the trophy.”
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