SMITHFIELD, R.I. -- For the first time this season, the Fairfield University field hockey team found itself trailing in a Northeast Conference (NEC) game but the end result remained the same. The Stags erased an early 1-0 deficit with a pair of goals to defeat Bryant University by a 2-1 score and complete the NEC portion of its schedule with a 7-0 record.

Bryant took the lead in the first quarter when Taryn Rauff finished a penalty corner with a shot that ticked off the near post and ricocheted into the back of the cage, completing a play that was started by Lotte Guitnik and Caitlin Gallagher. The goal was only the second surrendered by Fairfield in conference play and the first since Saint Francis University reached the back of the net last Friday.

After managing just one shot in the first 15 minutes, the Stags stepped up its offensive pressure in the second half which resulted in seven attempts. Six of those shots were on goal but Marijn Jaarsma was able to turn away five of those attempts. The Stags broke through the Bryant defense in the 24th minute when Malen Iglesias posted her ninth goal of the season, taking a pass from Ymke Huisman and sending a shot to the left side of the goal.

With the score tied at halftime, Fairfield found its way into the lead in the fourth quarter when defender Mackenzie Boyle secured the ball on the right sideline and cut into the circle before releasing a shot from a sharp angle that beat Jaarsma to the near post and pushed the score to 2-1. The goal represented the first of Boyle's career and gave her a goal and an assist for this season.

Boyle and the Stags' defense was quite effective in the second half, allowing just one shot over the final 30 minutes and just three attempts during the game. Fairfield's defense has yielded five goals over the last 10 games and posted six shutouts. Goalkeeper Zoe Rosen only had to make one save in her 60 minutes of work and lowered her goals against average to 1.17 for the season.

Fairfield, which earned the NEC regular-season championship last weekend, will finish up the regular season on Sunday when it travels to the University of Vermont for a 12 pm start. The Stags will enter the 2021 NEC Tournament as the top seed and will travel to Wagner College on November 5-7 for the event.