FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Fairfield University women's lacrosse team topped Sacred Heart University, 14-10, this afternoon on Campus Field. 

Melanie Raso scored four goals for Fairfield while Jenna Slowey netted three. Jamie Leone and Colleen Reynolds scored two apiece and the Stags also received goals from Julieanne Mascera, Riley Hellstein, and Alex Fehmel.

Sacred Heart took an early lead when Jesslyn Joseph netted the first goal of the game at 25:45. Fairfield answered with consecutive goals by Raso, at 25:10 and 24:55, to give the Stags a 2-1 lead. The Pioneers' Shelby Vaccaro tied the game at 2-2 before Raso scored, off a pass from Leone, to return the lead to Fairfield.

Back-to-back goals by Mascera and Slowey lifted the Stags to 5-2 at 19:38. Sacred Heart narrowed the gap when Joseph netted her second goal, off a free position shot. However, another set of consecutive goals by Fairfield expanded the Stags' lead. The first goal was scored by Slowey, off a pass from Leone, at 11:27 while the second was scored by Raso at 10:26.  

The Pioneers battled back with their own set of consecutive goals at 9:51 and 9:15, making the score 7-5. Fairfield answered with goals by Reynolds and Slowey, giving the Stags a four-goal advantage. In the remaining 2:43 in the first half, the Pioneers were able to score back-to-back goals at 1:16 and 0:26. Both teams were able to defend their net for the last 26 seconds of the half, leaving Fairfield with a 9-7 lead into halftime.

The Stags came out strong in the second half, scoring the first four goals. The first was netted by Hellstein at 23:57 followed by Reynolds at 21:11. Fehmel netted her first collegiate goal at 15:40 while Leone scored at 14:51, off a pass from Raso, to bring the score to 13-7.

Play continued until Sacred Heart's Joseph scored her third goal of the game at 7:36. About four minutes later, Leone netted her second goal keeping Fairfield ahead 14-8. The Pioneers scored two more goals in the remaining 3:37, but were unable to catch the Stags, sealing a 14-10 win for Fairfield.

The Stags outshot the Pioneers 35-20 and had a 14-4 advantage in ground balls. Sophomore Chelsey Sidaras manned the net for Fairfield, making four saves, while Sacred Heart's Kelly Keenan tallied 16.

For the Pioneers, Joseph tallied four goals and three draw controls while Vaccaro scored three goals and added two assists. Pearce added a goal and two ground balls for Sacred Heart. 

Fairfield (5-3) will continue action at home. The Stags will open conference play on March 29 as they host Niagara University at noon.