For seniors Janna Breitenwischer, Amanda Vargo, Alex Caram, Brett Maron and Mary Therese Church, their last home game was a fitting one.
The women’s soccer team secured the second seed in the MAAC Tournament by defeating Rider 5-1 on Sunday afternoon.
All five seniors started the game and made key contributions to the win, as well as throughout their careers.
“It was bittersweet,” said Breitenwischer. “It was a great four years, and it was nice to end on a good note.”
Women’s soccer Head Coach Jim O’Brien said he was pleased with Breitenwischer’s two-goal performance but joked that he wanted three.
Breitenwischer tied the career record for starts by a Stag with 77 and knocked in the first two goals of the game. She is 11th all-time in assists in program history with 12. She was also named to the All-MAAC Academic Team the past two seasons and as well as the All-MAAC Rookie Team.
“I love soccer,” she said, “and playing with these girls for the past four years has been a dream come true.”
Vargo has scored four goals in her career, along with five assists. She narrowly missed several scoring opportunities on Sunday. She was named to the MAAC All-Academic Team the past two seasons.
Caram is eighth all-time in assists in program history with 15, and ranks 10th in career points with 47. She was named to the All-MAAC First Team last season.
Maron’s bid for the career shutout record was stymied by a Rider goal with 20:47 left in the game. She is in second place with 24 shutouts all-time. Her goaltending has been a key factor in the Stags’ success. She was named to the NSCAA All-Northeast Region Third Team last season and was named the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Church provided valuable leadership on defense and was a four-year starter. She was named to the All-MAAC First Team last season and scored five goals during her career off penalty kicks.
“They [the seniors] supported me,” said O’Brien. “They were freshmen my first year here, and they all bought into what I was selling. We’ve improved every year to where we are now consistently one of the top teams in the MAAC, and it’s all thanks to these five girls.”
The leaders of next season shined as well on senior day.
Nicole Cavallaro ’11 had three assists in the game, setting a new school record for a single season with 16. She is now seventh on the all-time list and ranks second nationally in assists per game with .8 per game. For her efforts she was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week.
Casey Frobey ’10 was named the MAAC Offensive Player of the Week with an assist against Loyola, and a goal and an assist in the win over Rider.
Cavallaro leads the MAAC in points and assists with 30 and 16, respectively. Frobey is first in goal with 11 and third in points with 26.
Ahna Johnson ’09 scored a goal off a corner kick from Cavallaro.
On Friday, the Stags played one of their more important games as they faced off against Loyola.
The Greyhounds went up 2-0 quickly, but the Stags rallied back to tie the game and send it into overtime where neither team could break through. The tie secured Fairfield a spot in the MAAC Tournament and the win against Iona gave the Stags the second seed.
“I think that [the game against Loyola] was the best game we played all season,” said Breitenwischer. She said that although the Stags scored a bunch of goals on senior day, they did not play as well as they could have.
O’Brien, who met with his defense during halftime, said: “We’ve given up goals that we shouldn’t. We need to focus more.”
The Stags will face Loyola in the first round of the MAAC Tournament on Friday at 4 p.m. The Stags are familiar with the Greyhounds after playing them last Friday in their comeback tie.
The team hopes to improve on last year’s first round MAAC exit and return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005.
Marist won the regular season championship and will face Siena at 7 p.m. on Friday as well.
The championship game will be played on Sunday at noon and shown nationally on ESPNU.
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