Over the past two weeks, the women’s soccer team has fought through the middle of their conference schedule. The Stags boast an overall record of 8-8-2 and 3-2-2 in the conference after a 3-0 home win against Rider and a 2-1 overtime loss to first place Loyola.

Peter Caty/The Mirror

Peter Caty/The Mirror

“We’ve definitely improved quite a bit with the injuries we’ve sustained and a lot of players have stepped up,” said head coach Jim O’Brien. “They’ve been able to get into more of the flow of the game with more minutes. We’ve started to improve, where we’re showing some promising signs. But we’ve got to stop putting ourselves behind.”

Fairfield has had injuries to multiple key players this season, losing seniors Casey Frobey and Chrissie Sidie for multiple games along with freshman Lauren Reilly. All three have yet to return.

The defense is also very young, with only sophomore Alyssa Decker returning from last year’s unit. While the other backs have experience, most are learning a new position this season because of Fairfield graduated two backs.

Fairfield has fallen behind in several games this year, making it hard to come back and win.

“I think it’s more or less mistakes from younger players,” said O’Brien.

However, many of the younger players have shown promise. To get an idea of the Stags’ youth, they typically start six sophomores, three freshmen, one junior and one senior. Freshman midfielder Rachel Madasci was named the MAAC Rookie of the Week. She recorded a goal and an assist during the weekend. She had an assist against Rider, but headed home the game-tying goal early in the second half against Loyola.

Fairfield gave seniors Bridget Nerich, Lisa Haylon and Adrienne Boyer starts in their final home game. Nerich responded with a school-record tying 14 saves in the game, including nine in the first half and two in overtime. Boyer picked up an assist on the cross to Madasci. However, the game ended on what O’Brien called a questionable goal with 56.5 seconds remaining in overtime. In order to improve, the Stags are focusing on cutting down on some youthful mistakes.

“I think it’s going to be a matter of putting together play for long periods of time,” said O’Brien.

With two MAAC games remaining, Fairfield sits in fifth place in the conference. Typically they would have to finish in the top four to qualify for the tournament, but this season, because it is being held in Disney World, every team will qualify.

“I think the motivation comes from things to make right,” said O’Brien. “I think that’s a good incentive. They might catch us once, but not twice.”

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