Men: MAAC Championship Semifinal - Stags #1 vs. #5 Rider

[FU73]

The field for the 2018 MAAC Men's Soccer Championship is complete. The three-day championship gets underway on Sunday, November 4 with a pair of first-round contests.

Fairfield University (11-4-2, 8-0-2) won the Regular Season Title for the second-straight season and will be the top seed. The Stags have not lost since September 22 against Saint Joseph’s and will host a Semifinal matchup on Thursday, November 8 after receiving a first-round bye.

2018 MAAC Men’s Soccer Championship Schedule

Round-Game-Matchup-Date-Time-Network
First Round: Game 1 #4 Iona vs #5 Rider in New Rochelle, NY on Nov 4 at TBD TBD
First Round: Game 2 #3 Marist vs #6 Saint Peter’s in Poughkeepsie, NY on Nov 4 at TBD TBD

Semifinal: Game 3 #1 Fairfield vs TBD on Lessing Field on Nov 8 at TBD TBD
Semifinal: Game 4 #2 Quinnipiac vs TBD in Hamden, CT on Nov 8 at TBD TBD

Final: Game 5 Game 3 Winner vs Game 4 Winner Nov 11 at TBD TBD

maacsports.com/news/2018/10/31/mens-soccer-championship-field-is-set.aspx

[stagz]

This is great. What a follow up to last year! Impressive. Do not miss the tourney especially if the Stags make the finals. I went last year and it was an incredibly memorable, spirited event. Hundreds of Fairfield U students storming Lessing Field ON CAMPUS after winning a Championship and punching a ticket to the NCAAs!

It reminded me of the basketball RED SEA in the late 1980s.

[FU73]

The #1 Stags will host #5 Rider on this Thursday, November 8 at 7:00 pm on Lessing Field with the winner going to the Championship game on Sunday to play the winner of #2 Quinnipiac/#3 Marist. During the MAAC Regular Season the Stags beat Rider 3-2 but tied Quinnipiac 0-0 and tied Marist 1-1.

[FU73]

#1 Stags with a Semifinal Round upset loss to #5 Rider in a 2-0 shutout before 584 fans at Lessing Field tonight.

Stags with only 2 Shots on Goal in the game to Rider's 7. Rider also outshot the Stags 13/9 and 8/4 in the second half. The Stags did hit the crossbar twice in the first 45 minutes. Both Rider goals came in the second half.

The team was (2-1-2) in the last 5 games and scored only 3 goals in those 5 games.

Rider was (4-1-0) in their last 5 games and scored 11 goals in those 5 games.

#2 Quinnipiac vs. #5 Rider in the 2018 MAAC Men's Soccer Championship Game on Sunday at Quinnipiac.

[FU73]

"We are disappointed with tonight's result but more importantly, we are sad that this season is over and that's the overriding feeling," Coach Rees said. "This is a young group, a good group and it will come for them. It's been a lot of fun all year long and it's been a great ride."

"We lacked the cutting edge tonight," Coach Rees. "We had a number of chances in the final third and really settled into it. But when we had the momentum, we didn't capitalize on those moments. At this point of the season, teams get better so there will be an ebb and flow. So when you are on top, you've got to seize those moments and we didn't do that tonight."

"Rider finished their chances tonight and ultimately we didn't and that was the difference," Coach Rees said. "Then we got to the stage where we needed to take chances to try and recover the goal and we got caught on that second chance."

"There are a number of things we should be proud of as a program like going undefeated in conference play during the regular season," Coach Rees said. "But it will come for this group. It may not have happened this year but it will come for this team."

Box Score:
fairfieldstags.com/boxscore.aspx?path=msoc&id=9482