Jac Ley wins MAAC Rookie of the Week

Stags freshmen Jac Ley was named MAAC Rookie of the Week. For a complete recap click here. Ley scored her first two collegiate goals aganist Stony Brook and currently leads the team with 4 points and two goals.

This is the common theme for the team this year. All four of the originally drafted freshmen have played significant minutes in each game and have played very well. They really look like the real deal and do not get the credit that they deserve. Yes they will make the rookie mistake but for the most part it looks like the Stags can get 4 MAAC All-Rookie team players.

Army 1 Fairfield 0

The Fairfield Stags women's soccer team (4-4) were shutout by the Army Black Knights (7-2) this afternoon. The Stags are now 1-3 in home games this year. Click for a complete recap and boxscore.

The Least You Should Know:

-Fairfield has been shutout 3 straight games at home.

-Army is ranked 7th in the NSCAA Mid Atlantic Region

-The Black Knights have only allowed 3 goals all year.

I liked what I saw out of the team in the second half. They came out aggressive and really had Army on its heels and almost tied up the game but Jasmin Corniel's shot was saved by a diving Alex Lostetter to keep the lead. I am a little worried about the Stag's offense and how can you not be. They haven't scored a goal at home for over 300 minutes and have been shutout in three of their last 4 games. O'Brien says it's because they don't play a full game and I agree. They are 0-4 when trailing this season but undefeated when they score the first goal.

Up Next:

The Stags will take on the Hartford Hawks on Thursday at 7 PM.

Fairfield 3 Stony Brook 0

The Fairfield Stags women's basketball team (4-3) shutout the Stony Brook Seawolves (0-7-1) last night. The Stags snap their three game losing streak. Click for a complete recap and boxscore.

The Least You Should Know:

- Spenser Allaway played in her first game of the season and also recorded her first game winning goal of the year. It is her 7th career GWG.

- Jac Ley scored her first two collegiate goals in the contest.

- Shannon Fay assisted on 2 out of the three goals.

- Kelly Boudreau made 8 saves to complete the shutout

This is what the Stags needed. I know it is aganist a winless team but it is the way that they won. They got that little spark from a returning player in Spenser Allaway. It is great to see her play again. She has dealt with so many injuries during her career and she has shown that she has the talent. She was named to the All-MAAC First Team last year and she is defintely an ignitor to the offense.

One of the main reasons why I love Coach O'Brien is he is great at getting the whole team involved. The four main freshmen recruits have played in every game and have all made a big impact. I really think it is a very talented class and will enjoy watching them all season.

Up Next:

The Stags will host Army on Sunday at 1PM. The Black Knights are currently third in the nation in defense.

Women's Soccer needs to bounce back

After a scorching start to the season, the Fairfield University women's soccer team has cooled off in their last three games. The team experienced their lowest point of the season when they were shut out by UMASS on a chilly Sunday. Coach Jim O'Brien had only one word to describe the loss: "embarrassed."

The team has now dropped to .500 after starting the season winning 3 in a row without allowing a goal. Since then, the team has been outscored 8-1 and has been outshot 73-18 over that span.

Despite the recent slide, this team has shown promise. They nearly upset #22 Georgetown by managing to bring them into overtime, and held their own against Boston College, the fifth best team in the country. Coming into this year, the Stags knew that this difficult schedule, which featured back-to-back games against nationally ranked teams, would test their skill and depth. "It's always important for us to have a challenging non-conference schedule," O' Brien said. The sixth year head coach has seen many successful teams at Fairfield. He ranks second in wins on the all-time school list and has led the Stags to at least nine wins in each of his seasons and a NCAA Tournament bid in two of those years. You can say he knows talent. And he sees the promise of this team, comparing them to the 2008 team. That squad received 16 votes in the final NSCAA National poll by winning the MAAC championship and only losing by a goal in the Big Dance.

The one aspect of the game that he is most worried about is the team's inability to bounce back after adversity. "The way games are scheduled is to play Friday and Sunday, so you have to get over the tough losses." The ability to recuperate after these types of games defines the character of any team. It would be hard for any group who just had a heartbreaking narrow upset to come back and play an even better school in less than a week. However, O'Brien can see this now and is trying to improve early in the campaign. The loss to UMASS might have been the wakeup call that the team needed. "It's back to the drawing board," O'Brien sighed. If Fairfield is to be successful they are going to have to not just forget but learn from this "embarrassing" loss. That journey will begin when the team travels to Stony Brook on Thursday. Maybe it is a change of scenery that will help propel this promising team and have all their talent pay off.

Northern Colorado 3 Fairfield 0

The Fairfield Stags volleyball team (1-5) were shutout by the Northern Colorado Bears (5-2) during the first game of a volleyball double header. Click here for a complete recap and boxscore.

The Least You Should Know:

-Fairfield lost each set 25-17

- The Stags had their second straight game hitting under .100 only collecting a .074 percentage.

-No Stag had double digits in kills with Hayley Moyer and Haililani Pokipala leading the team with 8.

-Rachel Romansky bounced back to record 26 assists and 3 kills.

I am concerned about the little hitting percentage that the Stags had. Last night, I posted that the graduation of Katie Mann could have drastically affected the number of blocks that the team has had but also remember she was the all-time leader in hitting percentage.

Fairfield Men/Women Recruiting Recap

In this post to the MAAC Blog they breakdown the recruiting class for both the men's and women's team. Without Adam Jones and Majok Majok, the men's recruiting class may not be what everyone thought before. The size is not there but the skill is.

Fairfield 2 Bradley 2

The Fairfield Stags men's soccer team (0-1-1) battled to a draw with the Bradley Braves (1-0-1) Friday night. Click here for a complete recap and boxscore.

The Least You Should Know:

-Fairfield missed a bunch of offensive opportunities and were either outran by the defender or missed wide on the goal in breakaways.

-Adam Cowen scored the first goal of the Stags season and senior David Piedrahita followed with a penalty kick in the second half.

-Michael O'Keeffe made four saves

Bradley is a good team. Every time the Stags scored, the Braves beared down and looked to tie it up. This was a very physical matchup alsowith both teams exchanging words and having to be seperated afterwords. Although they have not won a game so far in the early campaign, Coach Rees says he likes what he has seen out of the team and remember it is only the nonconference games.

Up Next:

The Stags will play Tuesday night at 7 PM aganist Yale.

Georgia 3 Fairfield 0

The Fairfield Stags women's volleyball team (1-4) were shutout by the Georgia Bulldogs (5-0) in the second game of the Hampton's Inns and suites Colorado Classic. Click here for a complete recap and boxscore.

The Least You Should Know:

-The Stags were held to an .011 hitting percentage and is hitting only .110 through the early season.

-Alex Lopez had her best game of the season with 3 kills and 6 digs.

-Rachel Romansky only had 18 assists. It was the first time all season she was held to less than 20 assits.

-Lauren Hughes and Stephanie Cruz did not play.

Another stat that scares me is the amount of blocks that the team had. The Stags recordedonly 2 blocks, while Georgia denied 22. Remember this is a team that lost the best middle blocker in its history with Katie Mann. Does the freshmen Hayley Moyer have what it takes to fill those shoes? Or who has to step up because throughout the campaign if you compare the amount of block assists, Fairfield has recorded 30 while the opposition has ammassed 104.

Up Next:

The Stags will play a double header on Saturday, the first game aganist the host team Northern Colorado 9 AM (MDT)

Tucker Nathan on ESPN 360 podcast

Stags second baseman Tucker Nathans is on an ESPN 360 podcast. The senior talks about his decision to leave soccer and focus mainly on baseball and his great summer playing for the Danbury Westeners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. To listen to the podcast click here.

To be honest with you I just became aware that Nathans was no longer on the soccer team but I agree with his choice. After all, teamed up the Hajjar the Stags might actually have a playoff team for Coach Slosar's last season. Also, this decision to focus mainly on baseball can better help him in future to get drafted in the 2011 MLB Draft.

New Soccer Uniforms

The men's and women's soccer teams will be wearing a new home uniform. As the picture shows it is a white shirt with the red stripes and looks much more professional than those of the past years.

I really like these uniforms and they really stick out in a good way. I know the team loves them and are really impressed. Now we just need to go do some winning.

Albany 2 Fairfield 0

The Fairfield Stags (0-1) were stunned by the Albany Great Danes (1-0) last night to start off the season. Albany wins it's first game since 2008. Click here for a full recap.

The Least You Should Know:

-Fairfield did have their opportunities with 15 shots and having 9 of them on goal. Kwadwo Asante mad a terrfic play but Adrian Foncette made an amazing stop to deflect the kick just above the net.

-The first goal came because of a loose ball turnover and they scored on a breakaway.

-Once again: Albany won their first game since 2008.

-850 people showed up to watch the defeat.

I know that it's Albany and their leading scorer last year had 5 total points but they did have some bright lights. I was very impressed with their goal keeper. Last year he played every minute of every game and finished with 1.66 goals per game good enough to win team MVP. He had 9 saves last night but that wasn't even close to his career high when he stopped a NCAA Division 1 program record with 16 aganist Colgate.

The Stags did play aggressively in the first half but they did not cash in on their opportunities. This is not how you want to start off your season. There were 850 energetic fans who were cheering and even during the wave! They were into the game. At least the team did not show up flat for their opening game. At the end of the day, this is a non-conference game and it is a good thing that they have time to improve offensively before they start with their conference slate. They should have help when Jack Burridge will suit up, "probably at the third game of the season."

Up Next

The Stags will continue their 7 game homestand opposing Bradley University Friday night at 7 PM.

Women's Basketball announces OOC Schedule

Today, Joe Frager has just announced the out-of-conference schedule for the 2010-2011 season. For a complete breakdown click here.

8 different conferences are represented in this season. Frager says he is pleased with the scheduling but it will be challenging. They will open the year with 4 straight home games.

11/12 Quinnipiac

11/15 George Mason

11/19 Cornell

11/22 Rhode Island

11/28 at Lafayette

12/2 at Villanova

12/5 at Hofstra

12/9 at Columbia

12/19 at St. Francis

12/22 Albany

12/28 at NC State

MAAC Season Preview

In this post to the Bleacher Report they preview the upcoming MAAC season and wonder if Siena could win their fourth straight championship.

They list Greg Nero as a key returning player and will be the replacement for Anthony Johnson, however there is still no word if he will be able to play this season. They also say that the two biggest recurits are Maurice Barrow and Majok Majok.

The report predicts the Stags to be in first place when September rolls around.

Sarah Paulus will play in 2010-2011 season

Stags guard Sarah Paulus will play in the upcoming year. She missed all but 3 games last year when she was pulled from a game with a knee injury. She tore ligaments in her knee and was out for the season. She says the knee feels "great."

This is great news for the Stags. Although she is not that much of a scoring threat she is composed, poised, and a great leader on the court. She reminds me of Megan Caskin when she was at Fairfield. Great passer and not a bad rebounder.

Colgate 3 Fairfield 1

The Fairfield Stags (0-3) were defeated by the Colgate Raiders (2-0) yesterday in the Colgate Classic. The loss finishes a hard sweep aganist the Stags. Check out the Stags website for a complete recap and boxscore.

The Least You Should Know

-Fairfield still has never beaten Colgate as they are now 0-5 in program history aganist the Patriot League school.

-Alex Lopez still does not have a kill this year.

-Romansky had 4 kills, 26 assists, and 2 block assists to offset 2 errors.

- Brianna Dixion was the only Stag to reach double digits in kills with 10. She has reached at least that figure in every game so far.

- The Stags made 26 errors and now have 82 on the year.

This not the way that the Stags wanted to get their season started. Last year, they went 2-1 in their first three games albiet it was from easier competition. But this always happens for the Stags. They dominate the regular season but cannot seem to win in out of conference games. You wonder, how strong is the MAAC? The Stags finished the year 145th in the nation in RPI ranking and combined with Niagara they were the only two MAAC schools in the top 150. It just might be the strongest weak team beating up on other weak teams in a bad conference.

The Stags are only hitting .145 as a team and only have 2 players hitting over .300.

Stephanie Cruz has more kills than Alex Lopez.

Up Next:

The Stags will play in the Northern Colorado Classic. They will face South Dakota and Georgia on September 3rd.

NBA Suspends Kenny Hasbrouck

According to Siena Saints Hoop, the NBA has suspended the former Siena grad for two games without pay for pleading guilty for DUI

Ed Cooley will appear on ESPN U tonight at 6pm

For the full story click here.

Coach Ed Cooley will be a guest of Katz corner with ESPN Andy Katz. He will be the only MAAC Coach and the only head coach in the state of Connecticut to appear on the college basketball preview show

Link: Reunion for Women's Soccer Coaches

In today's edition of the New York Times there is an interesting article about the reunion of Sean Driscoll and Susie Starr.

Driscoll used to be the coach of the New Canaan High School Girls and Starr was the goal keeper of Fairfield High School, the school that would continously stop New Canaan from winning the FCIAC title. "It was one of the biggest rivalries at the time," Driscoll recalled.

They are now reunited at Fairfield with Driscoll recently being named the women's soccer team's associate head coach and Starr who is beginning her thrid season as an assistant head coach in charge of goal keepers.

Driscoll, who grew up in Trumbull, spent the last 5 years as the head coach for MAAC rival, the Manhattan Jaspers where he won 40 games including a school record 12 in 2005.

So in conclusion, after three years trying to beat each other for a title, they will try and win one together.

Stags to play host to Vermont on December 20

The Fairfield Stags will play the University of Vermont at home on December 20th. Vermont finished 25-10 overall last year and won their conference and was a 16 seed in the NCAA tournament.

This is the second known OOC game joined with the Stags travelling to Gainesville on December 28th to face the University of Florida. Vermont will compete aganist 4 total MAAC teams this year including: Iona, Siena, Fairfield, and Marist.

The last time the Stags played Vermont, they were defeated in the Bracketbuster game.

Mens Soccer Recruting Class has a more Local feel

A year after the Stags signed 4 New Zealand born recruits the class of 2014 has more local players. With 4 out of 5 of the incoming freshmen around the Tri-State area it looks like Coach Rees is trying to get more of a local flare. Here is a breakdown of the class.

Anthony Arena- (D, Seaford NY, St Anthony's)
He's a defender who has also been known to score. He ranked 25th in the New York area in points with 8 all with 4 goals. His team the St. Anthony's Friars looks like a power house in the league. The same school as Joe Michaelson (men's tennis team) and Larry Cornelia (men's baseball) was 30-3 overall and had 6 players ranked in the top 25.

Wow the defenders on this team are very young. Erik Ilisije is probably the most experienced defender on the team but combined with the now sophmore Kiwis, Johnny Raj and Adam Cowen, the defense looks very young and talented. Now I think the big area that we need to improve on is offense because it looks like our defense it set for the next couple of years.

Patrick Bellero- (MF, Melville NY, Half Hollow Hills)
A mid-fielder who scored 10 goals in a season. He took the corner kicks for his team which finished 18-11 overall.

I don't think he will be taking the corner kicks for the Stags but I do like the fact that he is a scorer. We are losing a pretty consistent player in Christian Uy who was one of the best passers the school has seen. With 3 midfielders in this class hopefully one of them can step up and be that presence.

Matthew Danaher- (MF, Trumbull CT, St. Joseph)

He has his own highlight reel. He made the first team all-FCIAC the only one on his team to do so.

Wow this guy looks like the real deal. In his various highlight packages he is clearly able to blast past offender and is great at getting the ball to mid field. He can use his quickness and strength which is a deadly package. I think he might be the strongest in the class.


Matteo Marzoli- (MF, Westport CT, Staples)

He was a part of the youngest team in Staples history and they were almost undefeated.
This kid seems to have a very strong leg. Various reports say that he has scored on free kicks from around 50 yards! He was also the player that the team looked to to set up the offense and was great at clearing the ball.



Jon Clements- (Boreham Woods, England)


This player seems to have alot of intangibles. His old coach used words such as "ambassador" and remarked that he also "played a massive in our promotion"


How about this. For Woods he scored over 80 goals in just 2 seasons! WOW!