POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Marist men's soccer team suffered its second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference loss of the season with a 1-0 defeat to the Fairfield Stags at Tenney Stadium on Wednesday evening.

With the loss, the Red Foxes fall to 5-6 (1-2 MAAC).

SUMMARY:

It was a game of possession and defense to begin the half with Marist generating the game's first few opportunities but they were unable to find the back of the net. The Stags got on the board first in the 37^th minute when a corner kick was sent into the box from the left side that found a head at the back post and went into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.

The Red Foxes came out fired up, controlling the majority of the possession in the second half. Marist had a great chance to tie it up in the 54^th minute when a cross into the box found the head of sophomore Ernie Mitchell who redirected it toward the left corner but a Fairfield defender was there to clear it away and keep the score 1-0 in favor of the visitors. Roughly 14 minutes later, the Red Foxes had a second golden opportunity to even the score when the ball found Kevin Kappock inside the six yard box but his header glanced off the cross bar and his follow up chance went wide. Marist kept the pressure on for the remainder of regulation but the Stag defense stood strong and held on for the 1-0 win.

KEY STATS:

• The Red Foxes outshot Fairfield 12-5 and held the edge in shots 6-2 and 6-3 in the first and second halves respectively
• Marist had 5 corner kicks to the Stags 1
• Fairfield was called offside 5 times while the Red Foxes had 1

GAME NOTES:

• The game marked the first 1-0 score for Marist this season
• This was the second consecutive match the Red Foxes outshot their opponent but didn't score
• Freshman Giuliano Santucci made his first career start and finished with 2 saves and several key interceptions
• The loss was the first home defeat for Marist at Tenney Stadium in four total games this year

QUOTE:

"In soccer the best team doesn't always win. I think it was a great effort by our guys, they worked hard and did the job defensively minus one little mistake. We hit a cross bar and we had a ball cleared off the line, I'm upset for them because I think they deserved better." – head coach Matt Viggiano
 
UP NEXT:

The Red Foxes return to action on Saturday when they make a short trip down to New Rochelle, NY for a MAAC match up at the Iona Gaels at 3 p.m.