The Fairfield Stag’s men’s soccer team moved to 7-2-1 with a 3-1 win over the Yale University Bulldogs in New Haven, even though the Stags were out shot by the Bulldogs 15-6. Now, the Stags have been ranked 19th in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and are undefeated in the last six games. Alex Cunliffe `07 successfully converted two penalty kicks and Christian Uy `10 added a goal to give Fairfield the win. Fouls on Paul McQuade `10 within the box set up both of Cunliffe’s penalty kicks. McQuade also had the assist on Uy’s goal, which broke a 1-1 tie, sending a successful pass over to Uy, who converted with a shot into the corner of the net. ‘We have a lot of talent on this team.’ said Coach Carl Rees. ‘Paul McQuade and Christian Uy had great games for us tonight. Both of those guys are flat out talented players.’ The Stags have won four games in a row earning Fairfield a national ranking for the second straight season. ‘Being ranked does not matter to us. We focus on winning every game, taking it one game at a time. If we can win each game and continue to apply what we learn in practice, we will achieve our goals. The ranking and everything else is just a result of that,’ said Rees. The Yale Bulldogs pushed the ball down to Fairfield’s end of the field within the third minute of the first half until captain Mike Troy `07 blocked the ball at the corner of the field. Fairfield tried to return the pressure right away, as Sam Bailey `08 sent a pass to Christian Uy, who passed to freshman forward Paul McQuade. In the sixth minute of the half, Steve Desmond `08 took a shot which was blocked by Yale. The Bulldogs took over the game for the next six minutes, taking four shots on goal, one blocked by Tom Clements `09, one that went over the net, and two which were saved by Fairfield’s goalkeeper Jon Paul Francini ’08, last week’s Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Defensive Player of the Week. In the seventeenth minute of the first half, McQuade was taken down inside the box by a Yale defender. The senior leader, Cunliffe, who entered the game with a team high of five goals, took the penalty kick that put Fairfield up 1-0. Tom Skara ’08 and Cunliffe both had header shots that missed. Defense was strong, as Francini saved a ball that was put on net by a diving header from the Bulldogs. The Stags also prevented three corner kicks by Yale. ‘In the first half our attention to detail wasn’t very sharp,’ said Coach Rees. ‘We weren’t doing the things we had learned from the beginning of the preseason.’ Yale started the second half strong breaking forward through the Fairfield defense in the first minute of the half. Francini blocked the shot. Three minutes later the Bulldogs’ senior midfielder James Stewart scored from twenty-five yards out to tie the game up at 1-1. In the 58th minute of the game, Fairfield took the lead back when Uv tapped the ball into the corner of the net, making the score 2-1. ‘It was a great ball from Paul,’ Uy commented, ‘I got open and put my hand up and he sent the ball to the perfect position and I was able to just slide it in.’ Three yellow cards were handed out to the Bulldogs in the second half and one to Fairfield. Cunliffe scored his second goal and seventh of the season, putting the Stags up for good 3-1. ‘I felt a little bit of pressure on the penalty kicks, but I practice taking them everyday, so in the game I know what I am doing. It feels good to be able to step up and help the team win in a big situation like that,’ said Cunliffe after the game. ‘We played quite well against another team that was in the NCAA Tournament last season but we still have room to improve and we hope to get better heading into the next game,’ he added. Coach Rees also pleased with the Stags. ‘We began to apply what we have been practicing all year and we picked up another win,’ said Rees. The Stag’s return to MAAC play at Iona this Saturday and then are at home against another Ivy League team, Harvard, on Monday.
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