Fairfield Advances to Championship Game to Take on Monmouth
MAAC Sports
HAMDEN, CONN. – Number six seed Fairfield defeated number one seed Quinnipiac in the second semifinal game of the 2014 MAAC Men’s Soccer Championship at Quinnipiac Field on the campus of Quinnipiac University.
The first half focused on both teams’ defenses, as neither Fairfield nor Quinnipiac were able to score. Both teams played steady defense while each having opportunities to score. The back and forth play from both teams continued into the second half and led to a very physical period of action. The team’s controlled even possession through the entire match the match. The Stags outshot the Bobcats 8-6 in regulation, but no goals were scored to push the match into overtime. Through two periods of overtime both Fairfield’s Matt Turner and Quinnipiac’s Borja Angoitia were able to keep the ball out of the net and force the game to penalty kicks to decide who would advance to the 2014 MAAC championship. In penalty kicks, Fairfield came out on top winning the shootout 3-1. The Stags’ Jake Zuniga, Jonathan Uy and Jordan Ayris converted in penalty kicks with the game being won on the foot of Ayris. The Bobcats’ midfielder John-John Diaz led his team with four shots taken. The Stags Ben Whitcomb and Jordan Ayris also had four shots on goal in the contest.
Fairfield ended up outshooting Quinnipiac 11-8 in the match. Both the Bobcats and Stags offenses were able to put two shots on goal. Fairfield goalkeeper Matt Turner and Quinnipiac goalkeeper Borja Angoitia each had two saves in the match before going into penalty kicks. The win marks Turner’s eighth of the year.
Quinnipiac concluded its season at 10-4-5 overall.
Fairfield, now 8-4-7 on the year, earns a spot in the championship game on Sunday, November 16 at Quinnipiac University. They will face fourth seed Monmouth University at noon. The MAAC championship game will be broadcast live on MAAC.TV. The winner of the 2014 MAAC Men’s Soccer Championship will earn the MAAC's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship.
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