Oct. 7, 2006
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- It's the hope of every collegiate soccer coach that he can develop his freshmen class into a group of players who can make contributions in time for the second-half of the season. Head Coach Carl Rees has done just that with his rookie class, and today's game against Iona College is the perfect case in point.
Freshmen Paul McQuade and Christian Uy each scored a goal in the second half, lifting the Fairfield University men's soccer team to a 2-1 win over Iona College. The victory kept the Stags atop the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) standings with an unbeaten 3-0 record.
Iona started the game quickly against the Stags, as it attacked through the use of long passes into the box. However, the Fairfield defense kept the Gaels from any serious threats by sending the ball back out just as quickly as it came into the box. Iona out shot the Stags by a 5-2 count in the opening 45 minutes, but could not finish any opportunities.
The home team finally broke through in the 56th minute when Tauren Manders sent a cross into the center of the box, which Nicholas Smaldone finished for a 1-0 Iona lead. Fairfield fought back quickly to tie the score just four minutes later when David Piedrahita sent a cross from the right side of the box to the left side, which Paul McQuade collected and sent by the goalkeeper to tie the score at 1-1.
The Stags tallied the game-winning goal in the 70th minute after two quick, short passes inside the box. McQuade started the play from the left side by sending a pass to Sam Bailey. Bailey kept the play alive with a diagonal pass to Uy who finished the play with a shot to the lower corner of the goal.
The one-goal lead was all that the Stags defense would need, as goalkeeper Jon Paul Francini made three second-half saves to preserve the win. The junior finished the game with four stops, while his counterpart Nils Binstock recorded two saves.
