After an early goal courtesy of Brenna Brown ’17 in the first half, the Stags took a quick 1-0 lead. Fairfield would hold on to this narrow lead for the majority of the game. That is, until Quinnipiac’s Jess Fontaine tapped the ball just past the reach of a couple of defenders to tie the match 1-1 with less than seven minutes remaining in the end of regulation. The game was forced to go to overtime where both teams were held scoreless, ending in a tie.
The first goal of the game was not scored until after the 25-minute mark of the game. Senior Karolyn Collins ran down the field with the ball and sent a free kick toward Brown who headed the ball into the box for Fairfield’s lone goal of the game. Brown’s goal makes it five on the season to lead Fairfield.
“We were actually happy because we thought Quinnipiac was a better team at the outset and for us to get a goal was nice to see. We’ve played games in the past where we were the better team and we’ve given up goals. For us to steal one and get a lead was really helpful,” said head coach Jim O’Brien about getting an early lead.
Fairfield would close out the first half with strong defensive plays behind the leadership of Jenna Pike ’18, who finished the half with a total of six saves as the Stags held a 1-0 lead. “Jenna’s just been a stalwart for us in goal … She gets better and better all the time, [and] she’s improved every game. It’s just unfortunate we haven’t been able to get her a shutout this year, but she’s been outstanding. Kathleen Early ‘15, our goal keeper coach, has done a great job in developing her,” said O’Brien of Pike.
The defensive intensity for the Stags continued in the second as Quinnipiac struggled to maintain possession of the ball and get good looks at the goal. “We’ve spent a lot of time working on our defending coming off the difficult time we had against Marist a couple of weeks back so basically every practice has been dedicated to defending and we’ve seen a great deal of improvement,” said O’Brien of his team’s defense.
The Stags only allowed two Quinnipiac shots in the second half, but Quinnipiac was able to connect on one of the two. Quinnipiac’s Nicole Eriksen grounded a ball to the far post, where Fontaine was able to tap it in to tie the game at one. “It’s just unfortunate, that’s been our m.o. [method of operation] all year – just giving up goals at bad times, playing well and making a mistake and paying for it,” said O’Brien of the costly goal given up by Fairfield.
Heading into overtime, Fairfield found itself a scoring opportunity just two minutes in when Brown shot the ball towards the right side of the net; but Quinnipiac’s goalkeeper was there with the block.
Both teams struggled to get on the board, as the game remained tied at one.
When asked about the approach as the season comes to an end, O’Brien said, “Just improve and most of all just continue to battle. We’ve lost to Monmouth [and] tied Siena. We’re getting better results, but a couple of wins to finish things up would be nice.”
This matchup marks the final home game of the season. The Stags will finish their season against St. Peter’s on Wednesday, Oct. 28.
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