Judgement Week

Well, this weekend is one of the bigger weekends in recent memory for Stags fans. It starts Friday at 9 against the Iona Gaels. The team everyone is talking about. The Gaels are struggling of late. They have lost their last three games (all in MAAC play). However the Gaels only lost these three games by a combined seven points. Even though the Gaels are struggling many believe they stand as the biggest threat to knock off the Stags in the MAAC tournament. Then the Rider Broncs come to town on Sunday. Another dangerous opponent, and although we defeated them in Jersey earlier in the year, they are a tough team with a high powered and dangerous offense.

February 4th VS Iona- We start with the epic tale of two teams that play completely opposite styles. The Gaels come into this game averaging a MAAC leading 79 points per contest, while the Stags are giving up a MAAC best 55 points per game. Iona is lead by two dominant play makers. It all starts with junior PG Scott Machado. Machado LEADS THE NATION in assists per game with 7.8, and also puts up 14.1 ppg. Machado has caught my eye since his freshman year. He plays very similar to Needham. He is quick and tough and has the ability to make plays by himself with or without the ball. This season, he has as complete an arsenal as any mid-major point guard in the country. His main target is Junior College transfer Michael Glover. Glover has literally taken the MAAC by storm. He has been a complete game changer for the Gaels. Glover, originally a Seton Hall recruit, has put up eye popping numbers, averaging 19.1 ppg, and 10.7 rpg! Glover, against big East power Syracuse dropped 25 points and had 16 rebounds. However, in losses at Canisius and at home against Rider he only averaged 8.5 ppg and 11.5 rpg. At the beginning of the season, he seemed unstoppable. However, teams are learning to control Glover, and if you can control Glover you can control the Gaels. Lucky for first year head coach Tim Cluess, the offensive options don't stop. You have red-shirt sophomore sharpshooter Kyle Smyth who is averaging 11.6 ppg and a team leading 55 three pointers. Right behind Smyth is junior Jermel Jenkins who is putting up 10.1 points per contest and has 48 threes on the year. Slasher Rashon Dwight is averaging 7.4 ppg, and big man Alejo Rodriguez is putting up 6 points per contest along with 6.2 caroms per game. Not to be left out of the mix, freshman Sean Armand leads the team nailing 40.6 percent of his three point shots. Yea, this team can flat out score. What they cannot do is play defense. The Gaels are giving up 71.4 ppg which is 7th in the MAAC, and over their last 5 games they have only scored more than 80 points once, three of these games were loses.

Prediction- This is a very very hard game to predict. Iona is absolutely desperate for a win as they do not want to fall into 5th place in the MAAC standings. This is a team that has MAAC championship expectations. So the question is which Iona team shows up? The one that shocked Richmond on the road, or the one that lost to lowly Bryant? Hmmm, I expect the Gaels to give the Stags everything they have. However, I think the Stags offense will steal the show in this one.
Stags 74 Gaels 70

X Factor- Maurice Barrow. It is a lot to ask for a freshman to guard and all-MAAC player like Glover. However, if there is one frosh that can do it, his name is Maurice Barrow. Expect him to slow down Glover. However, he will pick up some fouls and Glover will pick up some points. That is where Keith Matthews comes in and steps up as well. I think the Stags hold Glover to 14 points and 12 rebounds, resulting in a victory. Another X Factor will be the Stags offense. Something tells me Iona will be hitting their shots,and the pressure will be on Needham and the offense. I am feeling a big game from Derek Needham and Yorel Hawkins. The Stags will show tonight that their offense can step up when needed, as they win a game that comes down to the final two minutes.

MAAC MidSeason Review

The MAAC Blog has done their mid season storyline segment. I was surprised that they hardly mentioned Fairfield except they have Cooley as their Coach of the Year and they do have Derek Needham as one of the top 10 players of the league (even though they spelled his name wrong).

There is no mention of how they expect the Stags to fair in the second half of the season and they do not really mention how great Iona has done.

The coach of the year would be very difficult to choose right now. Yes, Cooley has done a GREAT job this year with the absence of Nero and Hawkins and Edney still trying to become what they once were. Even with the struggles of Needham and the at times pathetic offensive displays of shooting the ball anywhere on the court. With all that stacked against him, he has found a way to win and make a defense that is currently the second best in the nation.

With all that said Iona has also done a great job, but things have come much easier to them.. It will be interesting to see how things will go on February 4th.

Stags 99th in Nation

The new computer ratings involving the MAAC Conference has been released. Ranking all the teams in the nation finds Rider in first in the MAAC, followed by Iona, and Fairfield at 99 rounding out the top 3.

I agree with the computer ratings as you can argue that Fairfield have two quality wins al year with the road victory at Siena and the home win against Vermont. The cancellation at Florida is a killer because they are more than a quality team and the Stags would be able to see where they stand. They are the last quality non-conference opponent and the rest of the schedule is very weak.

400 minutes- No goals

With the scoreless tie against the Iona Gaels to start the MAAC portion of their schedule, the Fairfield Women's Soccer team has not scored a goal in now 400 minutes. That's 5 hours! Their last goal came against Stony Brook, on September 16th.

I say it after every game. The team has the talent. Every place you look, they have quality forwards who are expected to be great. Frobey, Corniel, Cavalarro, and Allaway are some of the best talents in the MAAC. As a side note the last two goal that the team scored came off the foot of freshmen Jac Ley.

The team is back in action on Tuesday when they take on Harvard at Lessing Field. Fairfield has not scored on its home field in over 300 minutes.

2010 Stags Try to Head in the Right Direction- Men's Soccer Preview

It was on their home field. In front of their fans. On the grass they have been playing on their entire career. It was their time to shine. But the 2009 Fairfield Stags soccer team fell to the Loyola Greyhounds in the semifinals of last years MAAC Championship. The 3-0 loss marked the end to a season built on finishing strong. After starting the season 1-4, the Stags went 7-1-2 in their next 10 games. For the preseason number 2 ranked team in the MAAC, not making the finals on their home field was a disappointment. Getting over the hump from last year and starting off the season strong could be the biggest weakness for this team. But the 2010 Stags have something to prove, and are trying to get the Fairfield men’s soccer program back to its prominence.

The Stags only lose one key player from last years 9-6-2 squad. Graduating is their former captain Christian Uy who was tied for the most assists on the team and tallied the third most points for the Stags. However injuries can also play a key factor for Fairfield. Jack Cleverly, the senior from Dorset, England, tore his ACL and will be out to at least October. Last year, Cleverly returned to capture a spot on the first team all MAAC squad. He appeared in all 18 games during the 2009 season, and was a key player in the Stags defensive efforts. He scored one goal during the season, netting the team's only goal in a 1-1 tie with Siena College. The Stags dealt with injuries last year which could have been a reason for their early exit. Their leading scorer, Jack Burridge had a set back which forced him to miss the entire MAAC Championship. Without this threat, the Stags were noticeably missing a big threat on the field scoring only 2 goals in their last 4 games.

So with the loss of the 2008 MAAC Tournament MVP who can the Stags rely on to get them back to another MAAC Title? This squad will be comprised of a extremely experienced groups of individuals. 10 seniors will be asked to become leaders on and off the field. But who should you watch out for in the up coming year? Three players should become the focal point on the offensive and defensive side of the ball.
1) Erik Ilisije SR (Manapalan NJ). Illisije placed second on the team with 12 total points, all of which came off six goals. He enjoyed a hot dtreak midway through the season where he netted five goals over a three-game span against MAAC opponents. The forward started the run with a goal against Saint Peter's, and followed with a pair of goals against Manhattan and Rider. For the Stags to have any chance at the MAAC Crown, they must have the 2009 MAAC Second Team Representive become more consistent throughout the entire season.
2) Matthew Uy SR (New Hyde Park, NY). Matthew Uy was one of the team's top all-around players, registering six points. He was also one of the team's best defenders, giving the team support both offensive and defensively. Uy recorded one goal and four assists during the year.
3) Michael O'Keeffe SO (Christchurch NZ). O'Keeffe was named to the All-MAAC first team in his first year in the states. He recorded four shutouts and a 1.19 goals against average in 17 starts. He played 1514 minutes and posted 74 saves for a .787 save percentage. Hopefully a sophmore slump doesn't register for the goalie. However, a stronger defense will make his job much easier in the upcoming season.

However, this "is not a team of superstars" according to O'Keeffe. Their main focus is to play as a single unit. The now sophmore goal keeper states that the biggest strength of the squad is size. It allows the Stags to "be more threatening in set pieces and defending set pieces." Size will defintely be a factor for this group. The average height of the team will be 5'11 and their leading scorer towers in at 6'3 and weighes 190 pounds. Strength and size will lead to more offensive and defensive breaks.

The field for the MAAC Conference will be changing as well in the upcoming campaign. The defending champions, Loyola Greyhounds return 5 of their top 6 scorers but lose the offensive and defensive player of the year. While Iona, who spent the last part of 2009 ranked as high as 10th in the nation, will have to persevere without their two top scorers, who accounted for 50% of the total team goals, and arguably the best goalie in the conference in Nils Binstock. Both teams experience big losses to the make up of their team, but the depth that was created through recruiting should save the season for the Greyhounds and the Gaels.

The 2010 Stags enter the season on a mission. Not being able to defend their MAAC title was a disappointment for the players on the team. Some players start out with little goals to begin the year. O'Keeffe's goal is to "go out of conference without a loss" which will give this team the confidence to win some crucial games down the stretch. In order to take home the MAAC trophy, the Stags would have to go to Loyola which hosts the Championship tournament. Can you see it now? The Stags trying revenging the Greyhounds for defeating them on their home field just last year. With just a couple of months left before the season start, the Stags are ready to make this thought a reality.