FINAL SCORE
Monmouth 4 (1-0-0)
Fairfield 0 (0-1-0)
 
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – A pair of first half goals from freshman Jasen Bottini helped power the Monmouth University men's soccer team to a 4-0 win over Fairfield University in its season opener on Friday night. 
 
The first 30 minutes of the match saw both teams battle on each end of the field. Redshirt junior Eryk Dymora and Viktor Nikolov picked up saves to keep the Hawks and Stags knotted at 0-0 on the scoreboard. 
 
The Hawks were able to break through at 32:06 as Bottini, who had entered the game just over a minute earlier, collected a through pass from senior Gabe Dahlin on the near post and was able to tuck it home for the goal.
 
Bottini added to the lead just over two minutes later as he got loose on a run and went around the goalkeeper for the score. 
 
Monmouth carried that 2-0 advantage into the halftime break. 
 
Monmouth added to its lead about 10 minutes into the second half. Senior Kevin Zapata got going on a fast break and crossed the ball to the far side of the box. Junior Patrick Osiecki settled the ball and punched it home for his first career goal and a 3-0 advantage for the home team. 
 
Zapata tallied his first goal of the season just about five minutes later as he got a deflected ball and lifted it over the Fairfield keeper. 
 
Fairfield had a shot on goal in the 81st minute but Dymora was able to turn it away to preserve the 4-0 win.

NOTES AND QUOTES
"I thought this was a fantastic night for the guys and a great environment. We got off to a good start and scored some early goals. We've got a chance to build off this performance."
 – Monmouth Men's Soccer Head Coach Robert McCourt 
 
- Monmouth moved to 3-0-2 in its last five season openers under head coach Robert McCourt. 
- The Hawks improved to 7-4-4 all-time against Fairfield. It was the first meeting between the former conference foes since 2021. 
- Eryk Dymora's four saves in the contest gave him 14 shutouts for his career. 
- Jasen Bottini became the first Hawk to score two goals in a game since Olle Brorsson had two scores against Stony Brook last year. 
- Jakob Friedman picked up a pair of helpers in the match for the Hawks. 
- Patrick Osiecki's goal was his first career tally in his 30th career contest for the Hawks. 
- Kevin Zapata had a career-high three points for the Hawks on a goal and an assist. 
- Newcomers Filip Ivarsson, Sean Cadigan and Victor Andersson each earned the start in their first career match with the Hawks. 
- Ian Brunet, Matthew Fuentes, Colin Volpe, Brendan Tansey and Jasen Bottini all appeared in their first contest as a Hawk. 

NUMBERS CRUNCH
- Monmouth held a 13-5 advantage in shots for the contest. The Hawks outshot the Stags, 10-3 in the first half.
- Monmouth took five of the match's seven corner kicks on the night. 
- Eryk Dymora made four saves to register his first win of the season and 16th of his career. 
- Viktor Nikolov registered four saves for the Stags in the loss.

UP NEXT
-Monmouth hits the road to visit Temple on Thursday, Aug. 29 at 7 p.m.