FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University field hockey team will play its final two games of the regular season this weekend with a road trip to Bryant University on Friday and the University of Vermont on Sunday. The Stags clinched the Northeast Conference (NEC) regular-season championship last week which placed them in the NEC Tournament on November 5-7 as the top seed.

Before postseason begins, Head Coach Jackie Kane will have her team focused on closing out the conference portion of the schedule against Bryant, hoping to end the NEC season with an unblemished record. Fairfield has won five of its six NEC games by shutout, yielding just one goal which tallied by Saint Francis University on October 22. The Stags back line and goalkeeping have been nearly flawless to date with seniors Makenzie Boyle, Luzi Persiehl, and Zoe Rosen present the defensive experience.

Boyle, who earned the NEC Defensive Player of the Week on October 11, and Persiehl have held their own in the back along with solid play from junior Emily Kness, The Stags have surrendered just 17 goals in 17 games and posted seven shutouts. Rosen, the Stags starting goalkeeper, has ranked nationally for save percentage and goals against average all season long, and currently places 13th in goals against average (1.18) and 10th in save percentage (.798) coming into this weekend.

Offensively, Malen Iglesias has been the team's offensive leader with eight goals and two assists for 18 points. The senior earned the NEC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after scoring a goal in both wins last weekend along with one assist. Freshman Agustina Casteluchi was also a weekly winner as the NEC Rookie of the Week after scoring her third goal in the win over Merrimack.

Kness was cited as one of the conference's Prime Performers for her role in the Stags defensive effort. Danielle Profita, who also tallied five points last weekend with two goals and an assist, places second on the team with 15 points off five goals and a team-best five assists.

Bryant comes off a NEC sweep last weekend, defeating Merrimack by a 3-0 score and following with a 1-0 win over LIU. Taryn Rauff leads the team in scoring with seven goals and one assist for 15 points. She posted the game-winning goal in Bryant's victory against LIU. Goalkeeper Marijn Jaarsma picked up both shutouts last weekend to lower her goals against average to 3.12 and improving her save percentage to .773.

Vermont owns a 10-6 overall record after winning three of its last five games. The team comes off a 2-0 setback against New Hampshire to push its America East record to 3-4. Clodagh Ferry leads the team in scoring with 10 goals and two assists for 22 points. Alina Gerke is next in line with eight goals and one assist for 17 points. Goalkeeper Sierra Espeland has played every minute this season which has led to a 1.55 goals against average and a .760 save percentage.