It took 70 minutes, but Fairfield (8-1-2, 6-0-0 Metro) finally broke through. The Stags, who came into tonight riding a six-game winning streak and nine-game unbeaten streak, dominated on the stat sheet but were still tied as the clock ticked closer to zero.
Then freshman forward Cristiano Carlos, who’s been dominant this season with five goals and five assists, drove down the right wing with the ball and delivered a pass into the box, where sophomore forward Pipeloore Olanrewaju had acres of space to score. His shot beat Junior goalkeeper Alex Murania low to his near post, which was enough for the win as Fairfield held on to emerge with the 1-0 victory.
Marist (4-3-4, 2-2-1 Metro) came into this game with a little extra fire after last season, when Fairfield beat the Red Foxes 5-1 at home, handing the then-17th-ranked Red Foxes their first loss of the year.
Fairfield head coach Krystian Witkowski, who played at Marist from 2008-11, is now 3-0-0 against Marist in three seasons at the helm of the program. The Stags hold the all-time series lead as well; they entered play with 17 wins in 27 meetings.
Sophomore defender Miles Doulgas suffered a scary injury as time wound down when a Fairfield player landed directly on his head after a challenge. Douglas stayed down on the ground for a good while with medical staff from both sides entering the pitch. The Canadian did walk off under his own power after a scary moment for the Red Foxes.
Junior midfielder Caio Cavaletti missed this match for the Red Foxes with a leg injury, something he hadn’t done before tonight. Sophomore forward Ronan Hogg took his place in the usual starting XI as Marist switched to a 3-5-2 formation.
Marist head coach Matt Viggiano explained yesterday that he looked to switch up the formation as a counter to Fairfield’s 3-4-3 lineup, which had the force of a boa constrictor in it’s suffocation of the Red Foxes’ attack.
It was a drab first half, especially on the Marist side of things. Murania made four saves off 10 Fairfield shots, with three coming from sophomore forward Sean Albritton. Alex Murania’s brother, Massimo, a senior forward for the Stags, logged 18 minutes in the frame.
Graduate student forward Mani Diop, who made his return after being suspended in Marist’s last game, got into a slight altercation with junior defender Luke Shreiner about a quarter of an hour into the game. Shreiner earned a yellow card and a talking-to from the referee, which calmed things down.
The Stags finished the half with 10 shots to Marist’s two, neither of which were on target. Sophomore goalie Evan Chomow has been one of Fairfield’s and the Metro’s best players this season, having won back-to-back Defensive Player of the Week Awards. This match is his fourth clean sheet in five games, positioning him well for a potential Golden Glove award at the end of the year.
Fairfield stayed on the front foot in the second half, forcing a save out of Murania in the 50th minute and just barely missing a goal 10 minutes later.
Olanrewaju’s goal off the back of Carlos’ run was helped by the plethora of space he had in the box, as sophomore defender Will Salivonchik and senior defender Ethan Ortiz lost the striker between the two of them. His shot was savable but ultimately well placed, and had enough on it to get by Murania and sneak in.
Marist gathered some momentum in the minutes after Olanrewaju’s finish, but remained without a serious look at goal.
Fairfield committed a pair of yellow-card-worthy offenses on the way to closing this one out, with both Olanrewaju and junior midfielder Owen Drummond being booked.
Diop had a phenomenal look at an equalizer with just under two minutes to go, but his volley went over the bar and the one-on-one chance was wasted.
This win moves the Stags to 6-0-0 in the conference, where they occupy first place with a moat keeping other teams away. Pending the results of ongoing games, they sit eight points clear of second-place Quinnipiac with four games to go in their season, and have a chance, if other games go their way, to clinch the regular season title in their next match.
Marist does not have much time to dwell on this result as the Red Foxes play in just three days. They host Merrimack on Saturday for the team’s senior night, with kickoff being set for 2 p.m.