On a chilly Saturday night matchup against its first Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent, the Fairfield University men’s soccer team defeated Marist College in an impressive fashion, extending their unbeaten streak to three games.
Leading up to the Saturday night faceoff, the Stags were within the top five standings for MAAC goals scored with 11 goals in their last eight games.
Commenting on the game, Head Coach Krystian Witkowski praised his team’s performance, stating in the official press release, “These boys have put together three performances and are showing the consistency that we talked about all season.” He continued, “Their potential is starting to show, so I’m really happy with that effort. Everyone contributed tonight against a really tough opponent.”
Tough indeed, opening up the scoring was Marist; a Red Fox midfielder tucked one in the top right corner of the net within the first 12 minutes of the game.
The Stags did not take long to answer, though. Expertly taking advantage of the field opening up for a scoring pass, forward Devin Zachary ‘28 sent one right to midfielder William Pierce ‘26 who finished it off with a tap to the bottom left corner of the post, leaving the Red Fox goalie lying after a failed block attempt.
After the shot Pierce celebrated in fashion with a knee-slide to the corner, bringing much-needed energy to an already electric matchup.
Roughly 15 minutes after their first strike, Fairfield struck again with a throw-in turned goal that was accompanied by a yellow card to either side for a too-close-for-comfort shuffle between a Red Fox and defender Jordan Blunschi ‘26 once the ball reached the swarm of players in the box. The official scoring for the goal credited graduate student and midfielder Alex Oliveira and Zachary with assisting Blunschi. Marist’s coach picked up his own yellow during the following play.
Totaling with 15 fouls each, both teams were evidently passionate about this contention. Four of the fouls occurred between the first and second Fairfield goal. Three yellow cards were flashed in the first half of play.
The second half of the game was filled with action everywhere but the score. With nothing but the field lights looming 2-1 in bright red over the field, Marist scrambled to keep more possession in the box and apply pressure. Some close chances spooked the crowd of almost 600 spectators, one of which came in a sequence sparked by contact in the box from defender Juan Pablo Leano ‘25 that awarded Marist with a penalty shot. Goalkeeper Viktor Nikolov ‘26 faced the penalty and read the shot perfectly to send the ball vertical, allowing the Stags to coax an out of bounds bicycle kick from Marist for a goal kick.
Nikolov was not left alone after the penalty save, and picked up credit for another two. In total, the goalkeeper made five saves and faced 13 shots.
After roughly 73 minutes of play, yellow cards were still being dealt to Fairfield and will have lasting effects on the team. As Iona University, defending regular season MAAC champions, await the Stags’ arrival for their upcoming match, defender Stephen Perno ‘25 will be unable to play due to picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in this match.
Another few fouls, a couple shots and one last yellow capped out the night for the 22 on Lessing Field. Awaiting the last sequence of the match, play was halted as the referees held an impromptu meeting with two men from either team to subdue any more bad blood. Fairfield then wasted the last four seconds to secure their first three points on the MAAC table.
Witkowski emphasized the effort displayed by Fairfield, saying, “We gave a gritty performance, and I loved their effort in the first half.” He added, “The team showcased not just resiliency but a competitive spirit that we are going to continue to harness for the weeks to come. This is a big result for us, but it’s just the start.”
Fairfield men’s soccer returns to action on Saturday, October 5th against the aforementioned Iona Gaels with a 2 p.m. kickoff.
