Stags Fall to St. Joseph’s 2-0 Under the Lights

There was a packed house at Lessing Field during the much anticipated Saturday, Sept. 22 night matchup against the Atlantic Ten’s St. Joseph Hawks. The Fairfield Men’s Soccer team fell 2-0.

The Stags outshot the Hawks in both halves, resulting in a 11-4 advantage after they fell behind at the end of the first half with a goal from Hati’s own Frantz Pierrot ‘22. After the first half ended, the Stags really racked up the pressure in the second, peppering St. Joseph’s goaltender Joseph Boehm ‘22 with seven shots resulting in three saves to receive a shutout for the Hawks.

Fairfield forward Johnathan Felipe ‘22 lead the Stags with three shots, including one on goal, but also receiving a yellow card at around minute 77. St. Joe’s Alvin Dahn ‘21 received a coinciding yellow at around the same minute mark, but then answered within the next minute, putting another St. Joseph goal past Fairfield goalkeeper Gordon Botterill ‘21.

Numerous players registered shots on goal for the Stags in the game including Fernando Robayo ‘21, Johnathan Filipe ‘22 and Diallo Simon-Ponte ‘20. This matchup with St. Joseph’s ends Fairfield’s non-conference schedule, leaving them at 3-4, with wins over the Yale University Bulldogs, who were ninth ranked at the time of the contest, the University of North Carolina Wilmington Seahawks and the United States Military Academy at West Point Black Knights.

Fairfield comes into conference play ranked fourth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference with a 3-4 record, trailing the 3-4-1 Saint Peter’s Peacocks, the 4-2-1 Iona Gaels, and the 7-1 Manhattan Jaspers.

The Stags will continue to lead on Spanish Midfielder Diego Casielles, ‘19, who leads the team in scoring with four goals, and supersub Jack Weiss, ‘22, who while not starting a single game, is second on the team in goals with two.

The Stags kick off their conference schedule Saturday, Sept. 29 at 3:00 p.m. at Lessing Field on Town of Fairfield appreciation day against the Niagara University Purple Eagles.

The defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion Stags have a long road ahead of them, with the whole conference coming for their title, but they seem up to the challenge as the road to the MAAC title runs through Fairfield University.