FAIRFIELD–It’s been a tough season for Fairfield Ludlowe.

The Falcons struggle to score goals. When Staples struck less than five minutes into yesterday’s match at Taft Field — with Brendan Allen outleaping his defender, to head in Gabe Hellmann‘s corner kick — it looked like a rout was on.

But though the Wreckers controlled the tempo, and had the run of play, the hosts staved off any more goals for the next 50-plus minutes.

That’s when Staples scored twice more. Their 3-0 victory raises their record to 9-2-0. The next contest is Senior Day: Friday, Oct. 3 at Wakeman Field at 4 p.m., against an uncharacteristically down Trumbull side.

The Wreckers won with their trademark combination of team speed, crisp passing, selflessness, smart positioning, confidence, and tenacity to win 50/50 balls.

Hellmann, Dylan Shackelford, Adriano Carpi and Emmett Zahler nailed down the defense. Drew Hill handled the midfield with quiet yet powerful effectiveness. A rotating cast of characters — Allen, Gabe Duque, Ford Eptstein, Greyson Downes, Adrian Rodriguez, Noah Rossoni, Nico Reyna and Josh Whitaker — combined for a creative attack.

Keeper Jack D’Amore had little to do, until three successive shots in the final 40 seconds of the first half. The junior saved all of them, with a punch out and two diving tip-aways.

Mikey Brennan got extended minutes, and added spark and sparkle. His 58th-minute slicing, outside-of-the-foot pass found an onrushing Owen Perry. He chested it down, and finished cleanly.

The final goal began with another Hellmann corner. The keeper knocked it to the top of the box, but it came back to Duque on the left side. The quad-captain laid it across to Rossoni, who tapped it in.