FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- It's been 481 days since Head Field Hockey Coach Jackie Kane and her student-athletes crossed the threshold of University Field for a game. But the length of time did not seem to adversely affect the Stags as they opened the 2020-21 field hockey season with a 3-0 win over the University at Albany this afternoon. 

"We are very grateful to play again," Coach Kane said. "I think we had a little bit of nerves to start the game but I think we really got into our groove in the second half and we became the team that I think we are accustomed to being. I am really proud of the team and how it came back with a win against a perennial tough team in Albany."

The visitors looked as though they were in mid-season form for the first 25 minutes as the Stags defense was kept on alert for the first 20 minutes of the game. Albany found more opportunities in the circle but defenders Kelly Buckley and Luzi Persiehl kept the circle clean whenever the Great Danes were able to gather inside. Goalkeeper Zoe Rosen made a couple of saves during that initial rush which kept Albany from gaining any true advantage.

The game turned when the Stags applied pressure in the final four minutes of the second quarter which resulted in the team's first penalty corner of the game. After Dani Profita inserted the ball into play, Kelly Buckley released a hard shot that was turned away by goalkeeper Sheridan Messier, sending the ball back into play. Emily Halderson controlled the loose ball and sent a shot right back toward goal off the far post, beating the goalkeeper to the lower corner and sending the Stags in front.

"We were a little anxious at the start but Emily's goal really allowed us to relax a little bit and get ourselves back to playing the way we wanted to be." Coach Kane said. "It seemed like that goal deflated Albany and changed the way was being played."

With the Stags up a goal, the momentum seemed to not only carry into the second half but seemed to grow exponentially. Fairfield earned a couple of penalty corners during the third quarter and it was the second advantage that set up the second goal. Luzi Persiehl took a shot from the top of the circle off the restart and sent the ball toward goal. Malen Iglesias was waiting in front and was able to deflect the ball into the goal which doubled the Stags advantage nine minutes into the period. Fairfield's lead jumped to three after Faith Spaziano cleared space in front of the goal and flicked a shot toward the corner of the cage that beat the goalkeeper with 3:37 remaining in the third quarter.

Fairfield's defense took over in the fourth quarter and continued to prevent dangerous opportunities from turning critical. Rosen was up to any challenge brought forth by the Albany offense, finishing the game with five saves to record a shutout in her first game of 2020-21.

"This was an important win for us," Coach Kane said. "As much as we tried to compete against each other in practice, it's not the same as playing another team. When you have a chance to play against someone, you can start putting things together. With this win, we were able to get the foundation we need to build on once we get to the conference season."

Fairfield has one more game left before it gets to Northeast Conference play, traveling to Hofstra University on Friday, March 12 for a 2 pm game. The Stags play their first NEC game at Sacred Heart on March 18, one of six conference games on the schedule. With only eight games on the regular-season docket, Coach Kane understands that each game has a sense of urgency for a program that was ranked for most of the 2019 campaign, won a conference title, and advanced to the NCAA tournament.

"We have really high expectations for ourselves and we expect to do as well as we did last year," Coach Kane said. "So that means that we need to be successful every game for us to achieve our goals."