NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Fairfield University field hockey earned the Northeast Conference (NEC) Regular-Season Championship this afternoon with its 5-0 win over Merrimack College. The Stags improved to 6-0 in conference play with their final NEC match coming on Friday at Bryant University.

Fairfield took control early in the match, scoring twice in the opening quarter. Senior Malen Iglesias put the first goal on the scoreboard when she converted a penalty stroke in the fourth minute of play. The midfielder posted her second penalty stroke goal this year and her team-leading eighth goal on the season.

The lead was raised to two goals when Carmel Van Dijk picked up a rebound off a save by goalkeeper Riley Brown and lofted a shot over her outstretched pad with two seconds remaining in the quarter. With the offense finding success in the circle, the Stags defense kept Merrimack from mounting any attack. The home team did not attempt a shot in the first quarter and would not attempt a shot until the fourth quarter.

Fairfield added two more goal in the second quarter with the rally beginning nine minutes into the period. Augustina Casteluchhi picked up her third conference goal of the season when she collected the ball following a Brown save, and quickly sent the ball back and found the corner to improve Fairfield's lead to 3-0. The Stags would find another scoring opportunity just one minute later courtesy of graduate student Danielle Profita. The forward found a way to control a bouncing ball deep inside the circle and flick the ball past the vacated goal at the 25:14 mark.

The game's final goal came in the third quarter as Jolanda Richter found a way to put her stick on the ball sent forward by Hanna Saxon, beating the goalkeeper to the far post to make the score 5-0. Merrimack managed its only three shots of the game over the final 15 minutes with freshman goalkeeper Payton Rahn turning away both attempts that were on target. She entered the game in support of starter Zoe Rosen, who played the first 45 minutes of the match.

The Stags took 17 shots in the game and put 14 of their attempts on target. Brown made nine saves for Merrimack through her 60 minutes of work. Fairfield also enjoyed a 6-1 edge over its opponent for penalty corners.

Fairfield has two more regular-season games on the schedule both of which are on the road. The Stags start the final weekend of the regular season when they travel to Bryant University for their final NEC match of the season. The schedule concludes with a road contest against the University of Vermont on October 31.