It’s not as if they had anything left to prove, but finishing the MAAC undefeated certainly made a statement.
Fairfield University’s No. 24 men’s soccer team took to upstate New York this past weekend for its final two games of the regular season against Marist College on Friday and Siena on Sunday.
Despite unfavorable field conditions, the Stags defeated Marist 2-1 and clinched the MAAC regular season title and extended their unbeaten streak to 10 games.
Continuing with their season-long success, Sam Bailey ’08 and Billy Androutsos ’06 scored the Stags’ two goals to seal the come-from-behind win.
Earlier in the week, Androutsos earned his second consecutive MAAC Offensive Player of the Week with his game-winning goal against Marist and game-winning assist against Siena.
The assist was Androutsos’ 50th career point. He leads the team in goals (11), assists (five) and game-winning goals (four).
The Stags were able to maintain the success and finish what they started as they shut out Siena 1-0 and completed their undefeated record in the MAAC.
“I’m happy with the two wins this weekend,” said Head Coach Carl Rees. “Both wins were played on difficult surfaces…but the guys, as they have done all season, went into the games with the right mentality and got the job done.”
One aspect of the continued success of the team is the unity and effort from all of its members. This was prevalent again against Siena.
Up-and-coming player Kerr McLeod ’09 scored the lone goal and staple goalkeeper Andrew Frankel ’06 maintained the shutout.
Frankel is favored for MAAC Defensive Player of the Year with six shutouts and 50 saves in the season.
During the season, Frankel earned Defensive Player of the Week honors six times.
“The weekend went real well,” said Tom Skara ’08. “We stuck to our game plan and got two more wins.”
“It was a tough field, but we fought through the adversity and came out on top,” he added.
Though the team finished undefeated in the MAAC, they cannot lose focus and look too far ahead, according to Mike Troy ’07.
“We are feeling good,” Troy said. “We’re just trying to keep the momentum going and trying to keep everything positive.”
Before the team has the opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament, they must face their conference opponents once more in the MAAC tournament this weekend.
The Stags are favored in the tournament, which begins Friday at Fairfield against Niagara.
“Everyone knows it’s difficult to beat a team twice,” said Troy. “We still need to focus on the task at hand. We are taking it one game at a time.”
“We just need to be focused on our task and follow our game plan,” said Skara. “We know we’re the best team in the conference, but we need to show it this Friday.”
The team and its coach seem to be on the same page.
“We are looking no further than Friday at six, ” said Rees. “We would love to see our raucous crowd welcome Niagara to Lessing Field.”
In their last meeting, the Stags defeated Niagara 1-0 at home.
The MAAC semifinal tournament game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday. The winner will compete in the championship game at noon on Sunday, which will be televised on ESPNU.
If the Stags continue on their winning ways and take the MAAC Championship, they will have a bid to the NCAA tournament and could be the first team in school history to win an NCAA game. Of course, by that time it is possible the women’s team will have already taken that honor, but the men are focused on the task at hand.
“We don’t back down to anybody,” Skara said.
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