Despite a loss in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the women’s soccer team has nothing to be ashamed of.
Fairfield won the second most games in program history with a 15-5-3 overall record. The Stags won the MAAC Tournament, beating two teams that they had lost to in the regular season. Then, in the NCAA Tournament, they held the number one offense in the nation to one goal.
‘We played the way we wanted to play,’ said O’Brien. ‘We saw through scouting they were dangerous in some areas and we minimized those chances. For a team that scores three and a half goals on average in the Big XII, we thought that we did a very good job.’
A win against Oklahoma State could have been a program-defining win, but the Stags are still up-and-coming.
Four years ago, Fairfield also made the NCAA Tournament. But, the Stags lost 4-0 to Duke in the first round.
That year, the Stags were just happy to make it. This year, they expected more. Three seniors played on both teams and, while they all cherished their time at Fairfield, they couldn’t contain the disappointment of losing when they knew the result easily could have been reversed.
‘Winning the MAAC Championship two out of four years has been a great experience, but we looked to go further than we have,’ said senior Caroline Downey.
Oklahoma State scored the game’s lone goal ten minutes into the second half when a cross into the middle found an unmarked Siera Strawser, who pushed the ball past freshman goalie Kelly Boudreau.
‘It’s always a success (since) we won our conference,’ said senior Robyn Decker. ‘But this was a lot harder, especially losing 1-0 on one stupid mistake.’
Despite the Stags’ successful season and the bright future ahead, the loss was still painful.
‘We play to win,’ said O’Brien. ‘Our kids have that type of mentality. But the program is going in the right direction. We think we can compete against these premier teams. These kids are still disappointed because they felt they could win the game.
‘If they come in and beat us 4-0 like Duke, hats off to them, they’re the better team. But we didn’t think we faced a better team,’ O’Brien added.
Even though they didn’t make it over the hump this time, O’Brien gave 11 freshmen significant playing time. The experience they received playing in the tournament should help cement the program’s future as one of the best in the northeast, with the potential to be nationally competitive.
‘We had eleven freshmen out there,’ said O’Brien. ‘Our youth and inexperience is now polished. It’s a big step for our program.’
Unfortunately, the current senior class won’t be there when Fairfield wins in the tournament. But they can have the knowledge that they help set the program on the road to success.
‘It doesn’t feel so good now,’ said senior Ahna Johnson, who was recently named to ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Women’s Soccer First Team. ‘But we were happy to be there. We felt like we were in it the whole time.’
Johnson, the MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, Downey and Decker have played their last game for Fairfield. But O’Brien’s first recruits started moving the program in a positive direction.
‘These are girls that came here when the new coaching staff started here,’ said O’Brien after Fairfield’s senior day ceremony. ‘They bought into us and our plan to establish us as a legitimate Division I program.
‘They made a lot of sacrifices and stood the test of time,’ said O’Brien.
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