NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University women's soccer team enter the NEC Tournament as the No. 2 overall seed after finishing the regular season with a 8-5-6 overall and 7-0-3 conference record.
The Burgundy and Blue will face No. 3 Bryant on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Central Connecticut State Soccer Field. CCSU enters the NEC Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will face off against No. 4 Sacred Heart on Friday at 1 p.m. The winners of the Semifinal games will meet on Sunday at 1 p.m. on CCSU Soccer Field. FDU has a combined record of 2-0-1 against Sacred Heart, Bryant, and CCSU this season.
The Knights finished the season undefeated for the third time in program history (2004, 2015) and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2015 under head coach
Eric Teepe. FDU clinched the No. 2 seed with a convincing 4-1 win over Mount St. Mary's in their regular season finale and senior day. In the seniors four years on campus, the Knights have reached the NEC Tournament.
The Burgundy and Blue have reached the NEC Tournament every year since 2013. The Knights have an all-time NEC Tournament record of 4-7-1, but since Teepe's arrival in 2013, FDU is 4-3-1 and won the Championship in 2015 to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
FDU is 7-3-2 all-time against Bryant and the teams played to a 1-1 draw in their regular season match at University Stadium. In that regular season match, the Knights season-leading scorer, junior
Alexiane Marquis netted a goal in the fourth minute and senior goalie
Amanda Fitzgerald recorded seven saves. FDU and Bryant have met in the NECs one time in program history, with the Knights earning a 2-1 victory in the 2017 Semifinals.
The Knights ended the regular season with an offense that averaged 1.42 goals and only allowed 0.95 goals per match. Marquis led the Knights offense in goals with six, assists with four, and points with 16. Freshman
Maja Skansberg and sophomore
Lea Egner each have netted three goals and dished out three assists. The Knights had 14 different players record at least one point on the season.
Defensively, FDU is led by Fitzgerald, who was named NEC Defensive Player of the Week three times and has posted seven shutouts. Fitzgerald has a goals allowed average of 0.78, a save percentage of 0.853, and 87 saves in 18 games started. The senior is the programs all-time leader in saves, shutouts, and save percentage. Senior backs
Julia Shea and
Samantha Roff have appeared in all 19 games and been key pieces in the Knights allowing less than a goal per game. The defense has also seen sophomores
Christa Waterman and
Paula Ruess, and junior
Chloe Chefero start matches.
Bryant has averaged 1.44 goals and allowed 0.71 goals per match this season. The Bulldogs season-leading scorer is Remi Manna, who struck for Bryant's lone goal in the regular season contest against FDU. Manna has a total of 14 points with six goals and two assists. Junior goalie Meghan Dalton has only allowed 0.71 goals per game and has recorded 67 saves.
"We are going to have to play our best soccer this weekend as all four of these teams are extremely talented," said Teepe.
