Men’s Soccer Responds to Defeat With a Win

The Fairfield University men’s soccer team went 2-1 in three games last week, upping their overall record to 4-3 on the season. 

The week began on Sept. 11 with a 2-1 win against the Bryant Bulldogs. Junior forward Raz Amir scored twice in the first half to give the Stags a 2-0 advantage they would not relinquish for the rest of the contest. Sophomore forward Rasmus Sorensen Rejnhold, a conference all-rookie selection last year, had the assist on Amir’s second goal. 

“We wanted to use our strengths to our advantage, and one of those strengths is Raz Amir,” head coach Carl Rees told fairfieldstags.com. “He was able to connect with Rasmus and that really helped us get on top early.”

The Stags came home looking to continue that momentum in a home contest against the University of Rhode Island on Sept. 14. However, the still undefeated Rams took control of the field early. The 76th minute finally broke through for the game’s only goal, leading to a 1-0 defeat for Fairfield. A brilliant defensive effort from goalkeeper James Anderson ‘24, who had ten saves on the night, kept things knotted at zero for the majority of the game, but ultimately Rhode Island’s 16-5 shot advantage was too much to overcome.

But the Stags bounced back in their final game of the week, with a 3-1 win over the Princeton Tigers on Sept. 17. Own goals by both teams caused a tie at 1-1 early in the second half, but it took only four minutes after their own miscue for the Stags to find the back of the net, courtesy of Rejnhold, who scored his third goal of the season off an assist from graduate transfer and Sweden-native Viggo Sjoberg.

The Stags would go on to ice the game in the seventy-sixth minute with a goal from forward Thomas Drillien ‘24, his first of the year. Drillien capitalized on a cross into the box from Amir, who earned his third assist of the season. 

The Stags will try to build upon their successes this weekend as they travel to Cambridge, Mass. to take on Harvard University, before returning home and opening conference play against Mount St. Mary College on Sept. 28.