The Fairfield University women's soccer team put one into the left hand column on Friday night, defeating host Colgate University 2-1 at the Puma Raider Invitational in Hamilton, N.Y.  The Stags improve to 1-1 on the year, while the Raiders fall to 0-2.

"I think our depth and fitness level has been far superior in both of our first two games," said head coach Jim O'Brien, "and that is a promising thing.  Our freshmen have stepped up and played very, very well, making contributions on both ends of the field."

For the second straight game the Stags fell behind as Colgate tallied a first-half goal, at 28:14, and would make it stand up into the intermission.  At halftime the Stags made a defensive adjustment to counter the Raiders 3-5-2 formation.  Fairfield dropped a forward into the midfield, moving to a 4-5-1.

"We made the defensive adjustment in the second half," said O'Brien, "to counter the midfield advantage they had in the first half.  We were able to control more balls in the midfield, and maintain possession, and the defensive move ended up opening up our offense."

A rookie, Alyssa Decker, tallied the Stags first goal of the season off of a restart in the Colgate end, at 67:11, a goal that used players from three classes.  Sophomore Nicole Cavallaro laid the ball into the box to the feet of junior Adrienne Boyer.  Boyer fed Decker, who put the ball away.

Boyer would tally the game-winner, at 77:35, for the Stags, drilling a left-footed shot into the upper corner.

Rookie Kelly Boudreau had another solid game in net for the Stags, with seven saves.  With Fairfield leading 2-1, she would make three saves in the final 12:15.  Perhaps the biggest coming when Colgate knocked a shot off the cross bar and the rebound came down to another Raider players foot.  The Raider looked to put the ball into the far corner, but Boudreau was able to get a hand on it and preserve the lead.  Earlier in the second half, she had another spectacular defensive play, knocking away a dangerous cross in the box.

Colgate out shot Fairfield 12-8 in the game, and the Raiders had a 7-5 advantage in corner kick chances.  The Stags where whistled twice for offsides in the game. 

The Stags will complete play at the Puma Raider Invitational on Sunday, at 11:30 a.m., when they play Temple.  The Owls dropped a 1-0 decision to Marist in the first game of the event on Friday.