STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Fairfield University women's lacrosse team – the 2015 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champion – capped off a memorable 2015 season on Friday evening in the NCAA Championship First Round. After a back-and-forth first half of action from Stony Brook's LaValle Stadium, No. 11 Princeton pulled away from the Stags to take an 18-8 decision.
The Stags (14-5) were making their first appearance in the NCAA Championship since 2009 on the heels of the program's third-ever MAAC postseason crown. The Ivy League Champion Tigers improve to 15-3 and will advance to meet host Stony Brook in Sunday's NCAA Second Round on Long Island.
Julieanne Mascera led the Stags offensively with five points. The junior netted a first-half hat trick, finishing the season with a team-high 32 goals, and dished out a pair of assists. Jenna Fuchs added two goals and an assist, and Fairfield got single tallies from Courtney Chmil, Colleen Reynolds and Alex Fehmel. Riley Hellstein and Maeve Quinn added assists for the Stags.
On the defensive end, two-time First Team All-MAAC goalkeeper Chelsey Sidaras made seven saves. Meghan Reda had three draw controls and two ground balls from the Fairfield backline.
The Stags won 15 draw controls to Princeton's 13. Fairfield was outshot, 30-17.
Olivia Hompe had four goals for the Tigers, with Princeton also getting hat tricks from Lauren Steidl and Erin McMunn.
Princeton started the scoring in the first half on a free-position marker from Steidl before the Stags got on the board with Mascera's first of the day. The next three goals went to the Tigers, who opened up a 4-1 advantage with 19:35 to play in the period.
After a timeout, Sidaras stepped out of the goal to cause a turnover and collected the ground ball to put the Fairfield offense back in motion. The trip downfield ended with Reynolds finishing off a pass from Mascera to cut the deficit to 4-2.
Princeton took that goal back just about three minutes later and added another to rebuild a 6-2 cushion. At that point, Fairfield went on its first run of the day. Mascera started the stretch with her second goal of the day on a Fuchs assist. Mascera came away with the ensuing draw control, and the Stags struck again just 29 seconds later on a Fuchs goal assisted by Hellstein that induced a Princeton timeout with the Tigers leading, 6-4, at 12:41 in the first.
Princeton would get back on the board with an Anna Doherty goal, but Fairfield continued to click offensively as Mascera completed the first-half hat trick to trim the margin back to two goals at 7-5. The clubs continued to trade goals as the first half ticked away. After McMunn's marker for the Tigers, Chmil got into the scoring act for the Stags to cut the deficit to 8-6.
The next exchange saw Erin Slifer convert for the Tigers, followed by Fuchs finishing off a feed from Quinn to keep the deficit at two goals, 9-7. Princeton would strike last in the period, sending home a free-position shot with 51.6 seconds remaining to take a 10-7 advantage into the intermission.
Princeton was the aggressor out of the halftime, netting three goals in the first five minutes of the second frame to build the largest lead of the day at 13-7. The Tigers' offense continued to click, and the Stags were kept off the board until Fehmel struck with 6:28 to go to round out the score at its eventual final of 18-8.
In addition to their first MAAC Championship since 2009, this season also saw the Stags record the program's most victories (14) since 2009 and the team's ninth straight campaign with at least 10 in the win column.
Tonight's game also marked the final contest in a head coaching career of Fairfield's Mike Waldvogel. The seven-year head coach of the Stags, who also led the Yale men's lacrosse team for 22 seasons as a part of his Hall of Fame career, will be succeeded as Fairfield's head coach by Associate Head Coach Laura Field next season. Waldvogel will remain with the program as the Coordinator of Lacrosse Operations.
