BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's soccer team opened conference play on Wednesday afternoon with a convincing 2-0 win over LIU. The Knights scored a pair of goals within a two-minute stretch to start the second half. Senior Jackson Bennett and sophomore Lea Egner netted the two FDU goals.

"I felt we controlled the game from start to finish and got quality chances early," said head coach Eric Teepe. "We came out aggressive in the second half and we buried two back to back goals to give us the lead. It was good to get our first conference win on the road."

Each team entered its first conference match looking to be aggressive as each team fired a shot within the first five minutes of the game. FDU (2-4-3, 1-0 NEC) sophomore Madelyn Robbins created the contest's best early chance in the 13th minute when she got behind the Sharks (1-6-1, 0-1 NEC) defense, but freshman Kayla DeTreux saved the shot. The Knights then earned a corner kick opportunity and freshman Maja Skansberg serviced the ball in, but the LIU defense made a nice play on the ball.

FDU continued to put the Sharks defense on their heels in the 15th minute when Egner attempted a free kick from just outside the box that was shot just high. The Knights then regained possession in the 16th minute and Skansberg riffled a shot that was stopped again by DeTreux. DeTreux followed that save up with another one on a shot off the foot of sophomore Isabelle Udovc in the 20th minute.

LIU created their best look of the first half in the when freshman Hedda Einarsson fired one in that went just left of the net in the 27th minute. Egner then took a pair of consecutive corner kicks in the 30th and 31st minute but the Knights couldn't find the back of the net. The Sharks attempted the final shot of the first half when sophomore Kendra Oldroyd attempted a ball that missed left of the goal.

The Knights looked to come out aggressive early in the second half and did just that. Burgundy and Blue junior Sofia Albertsson attempted a header that went just right of the mark. Bennett then stole the ball, drove down the field, and buried her shot to give the Knights a 1-0 lead. The goal was Bennett's first of the season. "Jackson was all over the field and just took over the game," said Teepe.

Albertsson came right back after the Bennett goal and in the 49th minute she dished the ball over to Egner, who went on to bury her shot into the back of the net to give the Knights a 2-0 lead. The goal was Egner's team-leading third goal of the year and the assist was Albertsson's first of the year. "Lea has looked much more comfortable this year and is starting to show off her skills as a sophomore," said Teepe.

Senior Samantha Roff then got in on goal, but DeTreux made a save on the play to keep the deficit at two goals. Bennett continued to play aggressively as she attempted a header that went just left of the net in the 57th minute. Burgundy and Blue senior goalie Amanda Fitzgerald recorded her first save of the afternoon in the 66th minute when she denied senior Julia Duffy's shot.

Fitzgerald again made a big-time save in the 75th minute on Einarsson's shot that would have cut the deficit to one goal. LIU attempted its final shot on goal in the 82nd minute when sophomore Amanda Hjelle sent in a spinning shot that Fitzgerald read off the foot and recorded a save. The Knights defense played well all day long led by seniors Julia Shea and Roff and sophomore Christa Waterman. "Christa challenges the ball all game long and is an important piece to our defense," said Teepe.

The Burgundy and Blue finished the game with 14 total shots and six went on goal. Egner fired a team-leading three shots in the game. The Knights had 18 players appear in the match.

Fitzgerald now has 13 career shutouts, which ranks second in program history behind Sage DoVale, who finished her career with 14. Fitzgerald and the senior class finished their regular season matches against LIU, formerly known as LIU Brooklyn, with a 4-0 record.

FDU wraps up non-conference play on Friday when the Knights travel to play West Virginia starting at 7 p.m.