FAIRFIELD, CT - The Iona College men's soccer team fell on the road at Fairfield, 2-0, on Saturday night. The Gaels allowed two goals in a 4:07 span early on in the second half and could not get much going forward from that point on.
As has been the case for the Maroon & Gold this season, the Gaels dominated possession in the opening 45 minutes of action and created scoring chances galore. Fairfield's Will Marment was forced to make five saves in the first half, stopping Lenworth Lopez on the doorstep a couple of times.
Iona's Juan Alfaro Monge did well in the first half, stopping early chances from Thomas Drillen and Jonathan Filipe. Late in the first half, Iona had two prime chances to get on the board, but Esad Mackic and Lopez were turned away on back-to-back tries in the 41st minute. The match remained scoreless at the conclusion of the first half.
Fairfield got on the board just over two minutes into the resumption of play in half number two. Santiago Gonzalez converted on a feed from Drillen to give the Stags the lead. The Gaels then found themselves in a 2-0 hole when Rasmus Sorensen Rejnhold found the back of the net in the 52nd minute.
Over the span of the next eight minutes, Camil Azzam Ruiz and Lopez were shut down by Marment, while Mackic watched one shot sail wide and another never reach the box after being deflected by a Fairfield defender.
Those shots would be Iona's final ones of the match, as Fairfield packed it in defensively and controlled possession for much of the remainder of the night.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- As a team, Iona registered 14 shots, seven of which were on goal. Marment finished with seven saves, registering his first clean sheet of the season.
- Lopez amassed a season-best five shots and four shots on goal.
- Alfaro Monge made three stops, allowing two goals. The freshman suffered his first loss of the season, moving his overall record to 2-1-0. His three saves matched a season high.
- Iona is now 0-4-1 in its last five matches at Fairfield, with the program's last win coming back in 2009. The Gaels have not beaten the Stags since winning 1-0 in Lake Buena Vista during the 2015 MAAC Championship.
UP NEXT
Iona welcomes Siena to Mazzella Field for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff on Wednesday, October 20. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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