LOUDONVILLE, NY – Ashley McMahon set up the second half equalizer and then scored the decisive tally in the 81
st minute to push two-time defending regular season champion and Metro Conference preseason favorite Fairfield past Siena Women's Soccer 2-1 on Hickey Field.
The defeat ended a seven-match unbeaten streak (6-0-1) for Siena (6-2-1, 2-1) as well as a program-record shutout streak which finished at a remarkable 699:18 encompassing a school benchmark of seven consecutive shutouts. The Saints had entered the weekend tied for second nationally in clean sheets.
Trailing 1-0 midway through the second half, McMahon was at the center of the Fairfield (5-3-1, 3-0) comeback. She took a feed wide left from Ella Pisani and crossed to the finishing Ashlyn Walsh to pull the Stags even in the 69
th minute. McMahon then buried a free kick from 30 yards out with exactly nine minutes remaining to propel the Fairfield unbeaten streak to 18 straight (16-0-2) in conference regular season action.
Siena controlled action in the first half – holding the potent Stags offense to just three shots – before breaking the deadlock early in the final stanza.
Catherine Rogers crossed to
Anna Swyers who one-timed her third score of the season to put the Saints ahead in the 55
th minute.
But the Fairfield offense awakened thereafter, out-shooting Siena 11-4 over the final 45 for a 14-10 advantage overall. The Saints attempted all three corners on the afternoon.
Cate Burns made four saves for Siena which suffered just its third setback on Hickey Field spanning its past 21 home matches (13-3-5).
Alyssa Gluting stopped four shots for the Stags which ran their unbeaten streak in the series to seven straight (6-0-1) overall, including eight in a row (6-0-2) in Loudonville.
The Saints will look to bounce back when they head to Western New York to take on Niagara in a Wednesday matinee at noon.
