FAIRFIELD, Conn. (September 4, 2024) – Senior Colin Milliken (Easton, Mass.) tallied three points with a goal and an assist as Stonehill men's soccer picked up its first win of 2024 in a 3-2 victory at Lessings Field over Fairfield Wednesday night.

Highlights

• Junior Jared Rapoza (Somerset, Mass.) netted the game-winner in the 79th minute for his first goal and points of the season.
• Freshman Nate Monteiro (Brockton, Mass.) opened the scoring in just the second minute with his first career goal.
• Milliken put his first goal of the season in the back of the net and is now tied for the team lead with four points this season. He also tallied an assist on Rapoza's game-winning goal off a corner kick.
• Stonehill picked up its first win of 2024 and its fifth Division I win on the road since transitioning in 2022.
• Sophomore Tiago Lima-Bittencourt (Charlotte, N.C.) notched his second assist of the season and is tied with Milliken for the team lead in points with four this year.
• Senior Nate Lagoa (Rehoboth, Mass.) tallied his first career assist and point in the win, feeding Milliken on his goal in the 14th minute.
• Senior Colin Hargraves (Fall River, Mass.) also assisted on the Milliken goal for his first career point in his 31st career start on defense for the Skyhawks.
• Sophomore Tyler Sloan (Tallahassee, Fla.) improved to 1-1-0 in net for Stonehill this season and he is now allowing just 1.70 goals per game with a .667 save percentage.

How it Happened 
Lima-Bittencourt found open space down the left sideline, sending a cross toward the goal where Monteiro slid into the box and buried the ball into the back left corner of the net for his first career goal in the second minute of action.
 
Stonehill's second goal came just 12 minutes later when accurate passing from both Lagoa and Hargraves in the middle of the field led to Milliken finding a crease, dribbling up to the edge of the 18-yard box, and firing a left-footed shot to the bottom right corner of the goal past the Stags' goalie.
 
Fairfield had an opportunity to get on the scoreboard with just a few minutes left in the first half as Kaea Rangihaeata put a strong right-footed blast into the ball but his shot went wide left.
 
Lima-Bittencourt also had a chance at scoring thanks to a rush from the Skyhawks offense in the final minute of the first half as he cut inside on a defender to find an opening in the penalty box but the sophomore's shot went wide right by just a few feet.
 
After controlling the ball for most of the early stages of the second half, the Stags finally converted with a goal in the 59th minute from William Pierce who pulled away from the Skyhawk defense and put a left-footed shot into the opposite corner of the goal to pull Fairfield within one.
 
In the 62nd minute, a header from the Stags off a well-placed cross fell into the waiting arms of Sloan who made his second save of the night, eventually making his third and final save in the 75th minute as the sophomore goalkeeper had to fall on a curling, right-footed kick from outside the box.
 
The Skyhawks capitalized on a corner kick in the 79th minute as Milliken dropped a pass just outside the goal box to Rapoza who volleyed the pass out of the air with his right foot and into the back of the net to put Stonehill ahead 3-1.
 
Fairfield responded just four minutes later as a mad scramble for a loose ball in the box found Asher Rosen in a clearing to the right of the goal, teeing him up for a right-footed shot past the dive of Sloan to pull Fairfield within one in the 83rd minute.
 
The final chance for the Stags came in the 86th minute as a cross from Rosen gave Pierce a chance to tie the score at 3-3, but his volley went high over the crossbar and the Skyhawks would seal the 3-2 win on the road.
 
Up Next
Stonehill (1-3-1, 0-0-0 NEC) returns to W.B. Mason Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m. for a non-conference matchup against Iona (1-0-2, 0-0-0 MAAC).
 
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