Men’s Soccer fell to Fairfield after the Stags scored two goals in a little over eight minutes to come from behind and win, 2-1, at Hesse Field on the Great Lawn last Wednesday night.
“It’s a little bit frustrating because we went up a goal, but to be fair, Fairfield I thought played quite well,” said Head Coach Robert McCourt. “They’re a well-coached team, a veteran team, and we’re just trying to find our way, so we just gotta stick together and keep fighting.”
In the nineteenth minute, Fairfield nearly opened the scoring when junior midfielder Diallo Simon-Ponte skied a header over the crossbar from point-blank range.
Ten minutes later, Monmouth took the lead against the run of play. A corner kick was swung into the box, headed towards the far post, headed back into the middle by freshman defender Michael Neff, and then headed into the back of the net by senior forward Luke Bromley.
Though the Stags pressed for an equalizer, the Hawks took the 1-0 lead into the second half.
Just moments after the break, Fairfield had an opportunity to level the score after a Monmouth handball in the box awarded the visitors a penalty kick.
Senior midfielder Diego Casielles stepped up for the Stags and fired a shot toward the bottom right corner, but freshman goalkeeper Sean Murray stretched to his left to make the save.
Fairfield kept their foot on the gas as they continued to create attacking opportunities. In the 68th minute, a deflected shot that lofted towards the top right corner was parried onto the crossbar by Murray, who then dropped to the turf to block the rebound at the near post.
Murray made nine saves for Monmouth on Wednesday night, the most saves in one game for the program since 2015.
However, a stellar performance from the Hawks’ goalkeeper wasn’t enough to keep Fairfield from leveling the score.
In the 82nd minute, the Stags netted the equalizer through sophomore forward Fernando Robayo.
After the visitors sent a handful of crosses into the box, Robayo connected with one and headed it into the back of the net. Minutes later, Robayo saw another header on goal saved by Murray.
Less than 15 seconds before the end of regulation time, Fairfield won the game.
Freshman midfielder Jack Weiss sent a low shot across goal, and freshman forward Jonathan Filipe directed the ball into the back of the net from close range.
The Hawks travelled to Niagara University, NY to take on the Purple Eagles on Saturday night.
Monmouth were the first to score once again, as senior defender Henrique Joaquim netted his first goal for the program after a free kick sailed over the goalkeeper and into his path.
About a minute later, the Hawks gave away a penalty kick, which Niagara converted.
The Purple Eagles went on to take the lead in the 36th minute through senior midfielder Bautista Pedezert.
Bromley was shown a red card early on in the second half, restricting Monmouth down to ten men for the remainder of the match.
Minutes later, Niagara doubled their advantage after a free kick into the box was sent into the back of the net from close range by sophomore midfielder Luca Pacheco.
The floodgates opened for the Purple Eagles as they added two more goals before the final whistle.
One of them came from another penalty kick and the other after a one-on-one with the goalkeeper as Niagara ran away with a 5-1 victory.
The pair of losses sees Monmouth drop their fourth decision in a row, slipping to 2-8-1 on the season and 0-4-0 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play.
The Hawks are back home tonight, where they will welcome Marist to Hesse Field on the Great Lawn.
Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. and the match will be televised on ESPN3.
PHOTO TAKEN by Karlee Sell
