The goal for the men’s soccer team this season is simple: Win. The Stags are coming off of one of the most successful seasons of any sport in school history. But Head Coach Carl Rees believes that the team can overcome the pressure on them to live up to their talent.
“The expectations are high. In reality this should be a new year, a new group and the pressure shouldn’t be there but it is,” Rees said. “We have the ability to rise to the occasion and have shown that so far this season.”
The team plans to go farther than it did last season, when it reached the second round in the NCAA tournament last year, the farthest any team in school history, in any sport, has ever gone in the NCAAs.
Fairfield finished with a school record-tying 15 wins and were ranked as high as 15th in the country in October, the highest ranking in school history.
“We always want to go farther than we did the year before,” said senior midfielder Sam Bailey. “We have good experience and have brought in new freshmen to add to the squad. I think we can go farther than last year.”
The Stags have started quickly, moving from unranked in the pre-season National Soccer Coaches of America Association (NSCAA) poll to No. 17 in the country in the first regular season poll with two victories to start the year at the St. John’s Tournament, including a win over then No. 17 St. John’s and a 1-0 shutout of Buffalo.
Fairfield suffered a setback in its third game with a 2-0 loss at Boston College on Sept. 7 and dropped back out of the NSCAA National poll, but Rees said that he feels the team can move past the loss.
The Stags remain the top-ranked team in the NSCAA North Atlantic poll, holding that spot for the second straight week. College Soccer News also kept Fairfield in their top 30, at No. 3. Last season, despite their success, the Stags were never ranked in that poll.
Bailey, who scored the game-winning goals in both victories, earned the College Soccer News Player of the Week award, the first player in Stags history to receive that honor. He has led Fairfield so far this season. But he was quick to deflect the praise away from him and to the team.
“So far we have done great as a team, it is truly a team effort,” Bailey said. “I think a lot of the older kids on this team are leaders, everyone is stepping up as leaders and doing their jobs.”
His coach agreed that the team has shown tremendous leadership.
“Our leadership is good, from the senior class with players like Sam, Tom [Skara] and J.P. [Francini] to the junior class with Kerr [McLeod] and Tom [Clements], everyone has shown the ability to lead,” said Rees.
The Stags will need to replace the scoring of Alex Cunliffe ’07, who graduated last year.
Cunliffe scored a team-high 20 points, including eight goals and was the MAAC Championship MVP last season, as well as earning a spot on the All-MAAC First Team.
Bailey appears to be the perfect fit to replace Cunliffe as the team’s scoring leader. He already ranks sixth on the school’s all-time scoring list with 44 career points and was second to Cunliffe last season with 16 points.
He has a knack for scoring goals when it matters the most, with five of his six goals coming as game winners last year.
“I think Sam will be a key part of the team, especially in replacing some of the goals that Alex Cunliffe gave us last year,” said Rees. “Hopefully we can get productivity from Bailey and the other wings.”
Also up front is sophomore Christian Uy, who had six goals as a freshman last season, earning him a spot on the MAAC All-Freshmen Team, as well as fellow MAAC All-Freshmen teammate David Piedrahita.
While the offense is potent, the Stags’ biggest strength is to be on the defensive side.
Senior goalkeeper Jon Paul Francini ranked in the top-25 in the country in goals against average last season with a 0.80 average in his first full season as a starter.
The average was also the lowest in the MAAC and that, along with his six shutouts, made him the All-MAAC First Team goalkeeper.
The players in front of Francini are also just as experienced, led by senior Skara and junior Clements. Skara joined Francini on the All-MAAC First Team last season and was named the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year.
“We have a lot of options in front of me on defense,” Francini said. “With Skara and Clements, as well as freshman Jack Cleverly, as well as our midfielders Kerr McLeod and David Piedrahita who are good at dropping back defensively- they bring a lot of height and quickness.”
“We really have top notch defense in front of me, with their experience and ability to work as a team,” he said.
Fairfield again brings in a group of talented freshmen who are ready to step in immediately as key players, a staple of Rees’ teams.
Three of the freshmen have already shown the ability to play as starters: Cleverly on defense, Todd Rutledge at forward and Matthew Uy, Christian’s younger brother, in the midfield.
Both Rutledge and Uy have experience playing for their country’s national teams. Rutledge has spent time on the Canadian Under-17 and Under-18 national teams and Uy is a member of the United States Under-17 National Team.
“Over the years we have always recruited three or so players that we could start immediately. Matthew Uy, Todd Rutledge and Jack Cleverly all are good players and have been able to do that for us so far,” said Rees.
Last season the Stags got immediate results from Christian Uy and Piedrahita, as well as Paul McQuade, who is no longer a member of the team.
“Our strength in depth has improved and hopefully, with the mix of freshmen and experience, we will know what it takes to win the MAAC and advance in the NCAA tournament once again,” said Rees.
Fairfield showed it had the ability to compete with the top schools in the country with its win over UConn in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but will need repeated success to plant themselves among the best in the nation.
The Stags hope that the experience they gained last season will carry them farther than any other Fairfield team has ever gone.
“Our main goal is success. We want to win the MAAC and get our ticket to the NCAA Tournament again,” Francini said. “Our experience should be an advantage. We know what it takes to play in high-pressure games.”
“We have a team mentality that we can tap into and it will serve as our inspiration and our power as we go for our goals,” he said.
The Stags will have a week to prepare for its first home game, against Yale on Sept. 15.
Fairfield will look to continue its dominance at Lessing Field, having won 24 of the last 26 regular season games played there.
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