TEANECK, N.J. – The Fairleigh Dickinson women's soccer team will play the second match of its two-game home stand on Friday, March 19 when they welcome Merrimack to University Stadium for an NEC match.

Game Info
Merrimack (3-2-0, 2-1-0 NEC) at FDU (3-1-0, 3-0-0 NEC)
Friday, March 19 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 1-0-0
Streak…W1
First Meeting…9/29/19 (FDU 2, Merrimack 1)

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.

NEC Preseason Poll
FDU 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.

Scouting the Warriors
Merrimack (3-2-0, 2-1-0 NEC) will play their fourth NEC match of the year and are currently in third place in the NEC standings The Warriors opened NEC action with a 3-1 loss to St. Francis Brooklyn, but beat Mount St. Mary's 2-0 and Wagner 1-0 in their last two NEC contests. The Warriors offense is led by junior midfielder Rebecca Harty, who has a team-leading two goals and six points for the year as well as two game-winning goals. Fellow junior midfielder Erin Tyldesley has dished out a pair of assists this year and has four points. Senior goalie Megan Langlois has started all five matches for the Warriors and has pitched three shutouts to this point. Langlois allows an average of 1.65 goals per match and has 28 saves.
More on the Warriors

Scouting the Knights
FDU (3-1-0, 3-0-0 NEC) opened NEC play with three straigh of victories including a 1-0 win over Sacred Heart, a 4-0 wing against Wagner, and a 4-2 win over St. Francis Brooklyn. The Knights are currently in first place in the NEC after starting NEC with three straight wins. In the win most recent victory over St. Francis Brooklyn, sophomore Naemi Hausen netted a hat trick in the first half to help guide the Knights to a 4-2 win. Hausen now leads the NEC in points with 10 and goals with four. Senior Alexiane Marquis scored FDU's fourth goal on a penalty shot. On two of Hausen's goals, senior Sofia Albertsson dished out assists. Junior Isabelle Udovc and senior Alyssa Caggiano also recorded assists in the match. Udovc was named NEC Player of the Week on March 15 after scoring a goal and recording two assists against Wagner. FDU senior goalie Cassandra Marcoux was selected as the NEC Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week on March 8 for her performance against the Sacred Heart where she tallied 11 saves. Last year against Merrimack, recent graduate Samantha Roff netted the game-winning goal in the 77th minute to guide FDU to a 2-1 win. FDU hasn't lost an NEC regular season match since October 28, 2018 and have won or drew in 13 straight NEC regular season contests.
More on the Knights
 
Coach Teepe's Thoughts
"I don't think we played our best, but I think we started off well and put them under a lot of pressure with great chances, but you have to give St. Francis Brooklyn credit, they fought until the end of the game," said head coach Eric Teepe following the victory. "I felt we were smart defensively, but in the second half I felt we could have been more aggressive offensively."

"Naemi played a fantastic game for us tonight. She is so smart and her soccer IQ is through the roof. She figures out where she needs to be and she gets there. I think she is just scratching the surface as a player because, I think there are times when she can be more aggressive and once she realizes that she'll find a way to score even more for us."

"Alexiane is such a threat offensively and sometimes she doesn't realize it. We are always trying to get her to take one step forward and be more aggressive going to goal because, when she does that she can get even more goals."
 
What's Next
After Friday's match vs. St. Francis Brooklyn, the Knights will travel to Mount St. Mary's on Friday, April 2 with kick off scheduled for 5 p.m. The match can be streamed on NEC Front Row.