FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Led by Julieanne Mascera's hattrick and six different Stag scorers, the Fairfield University women's lacrosse team topped Iona 9-7 on Wednesday afternoon to grab their first MAAC win of the season.
The Stags got off to a slow start, allowing the Gaels to score just three minutes in to the contest. But Fairfield responded with four straight goals in the next five minutes.
Colleen Reynolds tied the game at one when she secured a pass from Alex Fehmel and fired it past the keeper. Jenna Fuchs was the recipient of a Maeve Quinn assist that gave the visitors a one goal advantage. Fehmel notched a goal of her own in the 12th minute to give Quinn her second assist. And just 36 seconds later, Mascera found the back of the cage for her 23rd goal of the season off a pass from Riley Hellstein.
Iona stopped the scoring spree with a 3-1 run in their favor. Katelyn Noschese recorded two goals at 16:12 and 18:22 to cut the lead to one, 4-3. Hellstein found the back of the cage for the 32nd time this season to put Fairfield up by two. But Erin Pugh got one back for Iona cutting the lead to just one heading into the break.
In the opening minutes of the second stanza Iona retook the lead with two goals to force a Stags timeout. Fairfield would recompose and score four unanswered goals in the 10 minutes that followed.
Mascera started the run with an unassisted goal to tie the game. Not even two minutes later, the senior tallied her third of the day to put Fairfield up 7-6. Then Fehmel fired home her second of the game with an assist from Reynolds. And finally, Quinn found the back of the net to put the Stags up by three midway through the final period.
The Stags defense clamped down for the final 15 minutes, allowing just one more Gael goal to grab their first conference win of the season.
Chelsey Sidaras played all 60 minutes in cage making four saves against 16 shots. The Stags defense also caused 11 turnovers on the day, led by Reynolds and Fehmel each with two.
Said Head Coach Laura Field on the win, "We are happy with the effort the grls put in to today's win. It was a complete team win with our seniors leading the way with clutch draws, a drawn charge call, and some pivotal saves."
Fairfield will return to Rafferty Stadium this Saturday to welcome Siena for Military Appreciation Day beginning at noon.
