FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Women's Lacrosse held visiting Niagara scoreless for a stretch of more than 24 minutes on Thursday afternoon, stringing together the seven-goal run that led the Stags to a 13-10 victory. Brenna Connolly dished out five assists and Olivia Russell scored four goals to power the attack in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference matinee on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium.

With the win, the Stags improve to 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the MAAC. The Purple Eagles drop to 4-7 and level their conference mark at 1-1.

Connolly's five assists are a career high and the most by a Stag this season. The senior also potted two goals of her own to record the third seven-point effort of her career. Connolly leads the Stags this spring with 40 points comprised 21 goals and a team-best 19 assists.

Four goals also mark a career high for Russell, who now leads Fairfield with 22 markers in 2018. All four of Russell's goals came during the 7-0 run that fueled the victory.

Brooke Gallagher added two goals on the day, both of which came in the closing minutes as she barreled through the defense to tack on a pair of unassisted tallies to keep the Stags on top. Taylor Mitchell and Kathleen Hulseman also netted two goals piece, and Kelly Horning scored one.

In addition to Connolly's five assists, Gallagher and Jillian Winwood each handed out one helper to round out the Fairfield attack.

After today's efforts, nine Stags have reached double-digit points – the most for a Fairfield team since 2015. As a unit, the Stags are the highest-scoring offense in the MAAC with an average of 13.6 goals per contest.

Paulina DiFatta made 10 saves in the cage, including several highlight reel stops, and collected three ground balls. The defense in front of DiFatta was piloted by Maggie Reynolds with three ground balls and three caused turnovers as well as three ground ball and two draw controls from Katie FitzPatrick.

To go along with the 24:14 stretch in which the Fairfield defense kept Niagara off the board, the Stags also pressured the Purple Eagles into 21 turnovers and won the ground ball battle, 23-11.

In the midfield, Erin Mammele pulled down five draw controls and Horning scooped four ground balls.

Niagara, which defeated Iona last weekend, 13-12, in its first MAAC outing of the spring, was led by three goals and an assist from Rachel MacCheyne. Aubrey DeVeau got the start in the cage and made 14 saves.

The Stags are back in action on Wednesday, April 4 with a 3 p.m. trip to Monmouth. The Hawks are currently 3-7 overall and 1-0 in the MAAC following a 14-8 victory over Quinnipiac last Saturday. Monmouth visits Marist (4-4, 0-0 MAAC) this weekend before entertaining the Stags.