The match served as a final tune-up for Fairfield before Thursday’s winner-take-all showdown at Mason.
The Indians (7-0-1 GMC) leaned heavily on their defense in the early minutes of Saturday’s contest, surviving an early flurry of Crusader shots and corner kicks before leveling out the momentum. Senior keeper Ian Keil made three saves and obstructed other Moeller crosses and developments to earn his 10th clean sheet of the year.
“They certainly came out and had us on our heels early on,” Fairfield coach Dan Landrum said. “But we are a really mature team with a lot of older kids. We’ve really built (continuity) over the last few years to get to this point where we are able to overcome some adversity within a game.”
Fairfield struggled to possess the ball in the first five minutes. Playing against a steady wind on a warm October afternoon, the Indians gave up numerous corner kicks and deep throws on poor clearance attempts. Moeller (11-1-3) was never able to take advantage, however.
“If we get 15 to 20 really good scoring opportunities, which I felt like we had today, to then not score a goal is just not OK,” Moeller coach Mike Welker said. “But Coach Landrum coaches a really awesome team here. We’re not going to hang our heads too much for tying a one-loss team like Fairfield.”
The Crusaders did have the more dangerous chances and progressions, but Fairfield held the advantage on total shots (11-10) and shots on goal (6-3). Moeller enjoyed a commanding 8-1 advantage in corner kicks and also had multiple set pieces in dangerous positions of the field, but were simply unable to turn them into a goal.
Moeller, like Fairfield, finds itself taking a big leap forward from a 2016 campaign that ended in a disappointing first-round loss to Milford in the Division I postseason. Also similar to Fairfield, Moeller finds its strength in the back of their formation, led by standout sophomore keeper Cal Collins.
Collins made six saves, including a leaping punch-save on a floating shot from distance with just over five minutes remaining in the game. Collins denied Fairfield’s Fabian Arreola on a pair of shots on goal just 14 minutes in en route to the shutout.
“Cal is only a sophomore, but he is the heart and soul of this team right now,” Welker said. “He’s kept us in a lot of games. He’s won us some games.”
Landrum’s assessment of his own keeper, Keil, was also glowing.
“Ian Keil has been fabulous this season. If he’s not an all-state player, then I don’t know who is,” Landrum said. “I’ve coached Craig Salvati, who played at Maryland, and I’ve coached Byron Neal, who played for Ohio State and Wisconsin. The season that Ian has had has been every bit as good as any of their high school seasons.”
While Keil’s three saves do not necessarily stand out on their own, he weathered the storm of Moeller corner kicks and made smooth judgments throughout regarding when to step out of the goal and foil a development before a shot could be registered.
Indians defensive captain Jake Russo furthered the praise and confidence in his team’s back end, but highlighted his team’s biggest improvement need heading into Thursday and beyond.
“We definitely need to be more consistent on finishing,” Russo said. “But our defense has been strong all year. Only three goals have been scored on us in our conference games this year.”
Russo was forced to sit out Saturday’s contest with a lingering injury that they were unwilling to risk prior to Thursday’s championship game, but the senior has been a mainstay in the Indians’ dominant defense all season long.
Fairfield’s only non-win over GMC competition came on Sept. 17 when the Indians drew Sycamore 0-0. They carry a plus-13 goal differential in eight conference contests, allowing just three total goals. The Mason Comets have outscored their GMC opponents 22-6.
“Thursday night is going to be really exciting for these kids in a great atmosphere,” Landrum said. “Mason is a very good team and their fans are fabulous. It will be one of those nights that these kids will remember. Hopefully they will remember it for good things, because you don’t always get these opportunities.”
Russo concurred with his coach.
“This is what it’s all about, what it all comes down to,” he said. “Hopefully we can come away with a championship. We need to finish this season strong heading into the tournament.”
About the Author