TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's soccer team will open the NEC season and play its first match of the year at University Stadium on Tuesday, March 2 when they face Sacred Heart at 5 p.m.
Game Info
Sacred Heart (0-1-1, 0-0-0 NEC) at FDU (0-1-0, 0-0-0 NEC)
Tuesday, March 2 at 5:00 p.m. – University Stadium
No spectators will be permitted throughout the 2020-21 season
Coverage: Watch |
Live Stats
In-Game Updates: @FDUKnightsWSOC
All-Time Series
FDU leads 10-8-3
Streak…W1
First Meeting…10/1/00 (FDU 0, SHU 0 OT)
Last Meeting…10/6/19 (FDU 3, SHU 0)
NEC Season Format
The NEC will only have two teams qualify for the NEC Tournament with the No. 1 seed hosting the NEC Championship Game on the weekend of April 16-18. The conference schedule will consist of eight conference games from March 2-April 13.
Scouting the Pioneers
Sacred Heart (0-1-1) will play their third match of the year against FDU on Tuesday. The Pioneers went 9-8-2 in 2019 and were 6-4-1 in NEC action. The Pioneers qualified for the NEC Tournament as the no. 4 seed and fell 3-1 to Central Connecticut State. SHU's leading goal scorer from a season ago, sophomore midfielder Michelle Clarkin returns for the Pioneers after scoring seven goals last year and scoring 17 points. Fellow sophomore forward Meadow Mancini returns after scoring five goals last season. In SHU's season-opening 0-0 draw against Fordham, sophomore goalie Elyssa Kipperman registered four saves. The Pioneers also fell 3-0 to St. John's.
More on Sacred Heart
Scouting the Knights
FDU (0-1-0) was selected to finish second in the NEC Preseason Poll after a 2019 season in which the Burgundy and Blue reached the NEC Championship Game, which marked the Knights seventh consecutive NEC Tournament appearance. In last season's match against Sacred Heart, juniors
Christa Waterman and
Madelyn Robbins scored goals to help propel FDU to a 3-0 victory and one of their eight shutouts for the season. The Knights bring back 18 players from last year and six newcomers. FDU also has four of the top five point scorers from last year, including senior
Alexiane Marquis who lead the team with 16 points. Junior
Lea Egner who also reached double-digits with 11 points will be back for FDU. Senior
Cassandra Marcoux made her season debut against Hoftstra and recorded seven saves. Sophomore
Cayla Waterman registered her first career goal in the 71st minute in FDU's loss at Hofstra.
Coach Teepe's Thoughts
"I felt that the first 15-20 minutes we struggled with the pace of the game as it was our first match of the year," stated head coach Eric Teepe following the match. "We did recover towards the end of the first half and started to settle into the game. We were a little more pleased with the second half against a team that could finish the year as a top 10 team in the country. Our players battled and showed their willingness to compete in the second half."
"Playing today was definitely a different feeling as it had been so long and I don't think anyone knew how we would feel or react. We needed to have this game and now we can grow from this. Cass made some nice saves in the second half and Cayla scored a nice goal. Getting this game in was a positive in the sense that we've now shaken off the rust."
"We need to go out and battle on Tuesday against a Sacred Heart team that will be a tough test for us and is vying for one of the top two spots. It will be nice to play at home for the first time in over a year."
What's Next
After Tuesday's match vs. Sacred Heart, FDU will host play its first NEC road game of the season when they travel to Staten Island, N.Y. to face Wagner at 7:00 p.m.
