FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- A current conference opponent and a former league foe are on the docket for the Fairfield University field hockey team this weekend. Monmouth, ranked 25th and the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champion, will come to University Field on Friday for a 4 pm match. The Stags will close out the weekend with a road game against former America East opponent University at Albany on Sunday at 1 pm. The Danes are also nationally ranked, holding the 19th position in the latest National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll. The two games will end a busy week for Head Coach Jackie Kane and her team which started with a road game against Providence College, 

Fairfield and Monmouth started the 2017 campaign as the top two teams in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll with the Hawks holding the edge over the Stags. Monmouth garnered six first-place votes in that poll with Fairfield collecting one of its own. Monmouth, which owns an 8-2 overall record, opened up its MAAC slate with a 4-0 victory against Sacred Heart behind a strong effort from Kelly Hanna. The junior posted her seventh goal of the season in the game which helped the forward secure her second MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honor. Goalkeeper Christen Piersanti earned the shutout which was her second of the season.

Albany halted a two-game skid with a 4-1 win over Vermont last Sunday which improved the team's overall record to 5-5. The Great Dane will play their eighth home game of the season on Sunday where they have won two of those seven contests. Albany possesses an unblemished 3-0 mark in road games this season which includes victories at Holy Cross, Delaware, and Vermont. Ghislaine Beerkens posted the team's first two goals of the game, including the game's first goal just two minutes into the game. Beerkens raised her season total to five goals which gives her 11 points on the season. Katie McCallum, who added a goal and an assist in the Vermont game, leads the team in scoring with seven goals and three assists for 17 points. Goalkeeper Melissa Nealon owns a 1.56 goals against average with 66 saves in her 10 starts this season.

The Stags have received strong support from senior Andrea Soler, who has nine points off four goals and an assist in her 11 starts this season. Hannah Pike is next in line with seven points, registering a pair of goals with a team-best three assists in 11 appearances this season. Fairfield continues to split up the goalkeeper duties with Caitlin Gilligan earning more than 500 minutes in the Fairfield goal this season (2.80 goals against average with 66 saves). Freshman Zoe Rosen has a 3.82 goals against average with 29 saves in her five games with the Stags.