Fairfield struck twice midway through a dominant first half to defeat Siena Women's Soccer 2-1 in a pivotal MAAC matchup Wednesday night in Connecticut.
 
Fairfield (7-5-4, 5-2-1), which entered the evening leading the MAAC and ranked 19^th nationally averaging 17.5 shots, attempted 19 shots during the first half alone and added six corners in an impressive opening stanza.
 
But Siena (3-8-4, 2-3-3), which mustered just three shots in the first half, made the most of one of their lone opportunities. In the 17^th minute, Sarah Harnett served in a corner kick from the left which found its way through unscathed to the far post where freshman Julia Dening volleyed home her third goal of the season. The score snapped a more than 252-minute scoreless streak by the Stags defense.
 
But the lead would be short-lived as Fairfield continued its offensive barrage and answered just 53 seconds later when Meghan Carragher finished in front in a scrum. The Stags completed the two-goal rally in just 8:16 when Reagan Klarmann blasted home what proved to be the winning tally in the 26^th minute.
 
The Saints settled things down a bit in the second half, and kept Fairfield off the scoreboard, but couldn't find the equalizing goal. Overall, the Stags held a commanding 30-9 advantage in shots and a 15-4 margin in corners.
 
Brooke Boermeester was active all night long with a career-high tying eight saves for Siena, which wrapped up its MAAC gauntlet having faced the top-three teams in the league standings in succession.
 
Reigning MAAC Defensive Player of the Week Katie Wright needed to make just one save for Fairfield which took over second place in the MAAC Standings, with their final two matchups upcoming against the bottom two teams in the table.
 
The Saints now head into their penultimate regular season match Saturday in desperate need of three points. Siena has dipped into a tie for eighth place with Marist, two points behind Manhattan which currently holds down the sixth and final MAAC Tournament spot. However, the Jaspers have just one match remaining, which is against regular season champion Quinnipiac next Wednesday.
 
The Saints make their first trip to the State of Maryland in a dozen years for a potentially decisive showdown at Mount St. Mary's Saturday at 1 p.m. The Mount enters the tilt one point clear of Siena, but also one point in back of Manhattan.