NIAGARA, N.Y. – Junior Maeve Quinn recorded four goals to lead Fairfield University women's lacrosse to a 16-8 victory over Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) foe Niagara on the Niagara Field. Junior Julieanne Mascera, sophomores Riley Hellstein and Alex Fehmel and rookie Brenna Connolly added two tallies apiece for the Stags, who also received goals from Jamie Leone, Courtney Chmil, Riley Smith, and Scarlett Sulliman.
Both teams battled for the first four minutes before the first goal of the game was scored by Niagara's Carrie-Jo Farrugia at 25:42. The Stags quickly changed momentum, going on a 5-0 run over the next 15 minutes to bring the score to 5-1. The first goal was scored by Mascera, off a feed from Hellstein, at 21:04, before Chmil followed, a little less than a minute later, with a free position goal. Back-to-back unassisted goals from Quinn and Hellstein quickly expanded the lead before the final goal of the run was scored once again my Quinn, off a pass from Mascera.
Play continued until Niagara's Brittany Delano found the back of the net at 7:00. The goal was assisted by Taylor Wolf. Neither team was able to score for the next 6:25 until the Purple Eagles' Cailyn Negus scored, with just five seconds left in the half, to narrow the gap to 5-3 heading into halftime.
Fairfield came out firing in the second half, with the first goal coming from Fehmel at 27:46. Niagara quickly answered with a second goal by Farrugia at 23:41. Over the next five minutes, a 4-0 run by the Stags, expanded the lead to 10-4. Three unassisted goals were netted by Quinn, Mascera, and Fehmel, at 21:37, 20:44, and 20:01 respectively, before Leone scored, off a feed from Jenna Fuchs at 19:15.
The Purple Eagles managed to squeeze in a third goal by Farrugia before three consecutive goals by Fairfield gave the Stags a 13-5 advantage. At 8:14, the score became 13-6 after Farrugia scored her final goal of the game off a free position shot. Over the next five minutes, Fairfield went on a final 3-0 run to tally their total 16 goals. The Purple Eagles were able to score twice more, at 2:33 and with just 25 seconds left in the contest, but were unable to catch the Stags. Fairfield extended their winning-streak to five with a final 16-8 victory over Niagara.
Fairfield outshot Niagara 29-19 and had a slight 17-13 advantage in ground balls. The Stags picked up 16 draw controls, over the Purple Eagles' 10, while Fairfield went 9-10 on clears. Goalkeepers Chelsey Sidaras and Caleigh O'Connor manned the net for the Stags. Sidaras recorded three saves on the day while O'Connor tallied two.
Fairfield women's lacrosse (9-3; 4-0 MAAC) will bring MAAC action home to Rafferty Stadium. The Stags will host Canisius on Saturday, April 11 at 11:00 a.m. for Senior Day. Prior to the contest the team will be acknowledging the contributions of their seniors. Fairfield will have their final home contest of the 2015 campaign on Wednesday, April 15 when the Stags will host Monmouth at 3:00 p.m.
