STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Meghan Griffin (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) scored her first collegiate goal in the 43rd minute and that proved to be the difference as Fairleigh Dickinson beat Wagner 1-0 on Sunday afternoon.

The win was the 12th straight versus Northeast Conference foes for Fairleigh Dickinson (4-9, 2-0 NEC) and second straight win over Wagner (2-11, 1-2 NEC).

Griffin headed the ball in from six yards out after Wagner tried to clear a free kick from Jessi Reinhardt (Freiburg, Germany/Burggymansium). The header went into an open goal after the Wagner goalkeeper tried to make a play on the initial ball into the box from the corner kick.

"We knew Wagner was going to come at us hard and they put us under pressure in the first half," head coach Eric Teepe told FDUKnights.com. "Our players did a good job limiting their chances, I did not think they were dangerous with those chances. We had some chances that we needed to bury to put the game out of reach, our second half was much better."

Wagner was able to get possession in the Knights' defensive third in the first half and fired 11 shots in total and six got on frame and tested Amanda Fitzgerald (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem East). The freshman stopped all six of those chances in the first half and made four more in the second half for 10 total to earn her third win this season.

"We have been building defensively as the year has gone on. We are beginning to understand our roles off the ball. Great credit to Amanda for getting the shutout, but she has been great in games where we didn't get a shutout. We were much better defensively as a team [today] so maybe we can string a couple [of these] in a row."

The Knights had a pair of chances late off corner kicks. Kristina Neri (San Jose, Calif./Santa Teresa) made a diving attempt at a header at the back post that was just out of reach for the junior. Jackson Bennett (Toronto, Ontario/Humberside Collegiate Institute) had a shot at the back post that was blocked by the Seahawk defender in the 78th minute.

In the 81st minute, Reinhardt took a free kick from 30 yards out that forced a save from Katie Viscardi while going down and to her left.

"We are so young, so having these types of games it is a positive to learn how to win and to get through them. I told the team at half, it was more about managing the game. If we can continue to build on that then we are going to have a successful year."

The win was Teepe's 16th in Northeast Conference games, which ties him for second in program history at Fairleigh Dickinson.

The Knights return to action with a pair of Northeast Conference games next weekend. Sacred Heart visits University Stadium on Friday night (7 p.m. start) and the Knights travel up to Smithfield, Rhode Island to take on Bryant on Sunday afternoon.