FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University field hockey seniors produced a lot of memories on University Field over their four-year career so why not add one more for the group. The Class of 2021 combined for a 5-0 win over Sacred Heart University with seniors Emma Matlach, Emily Halderson, and Kelly Buckley accounting for four of the team's five goals while classmates Danielle Profita picked up an assist and goalkeeper Zoe Rosen played most of the minutes in a combined shutout.

It's no coincidence that this group was instrumental in the team's win today because they have had a role in 45 total victories over their four-year stay. Today marked the Stags' fifth win in seven tries including both non-conference matches this season. 

"This class helped change the culture of the program," Head Coach Jackie Kane said. "They are a championship group that won two titles in four years so they know how to win and know what it takes to win. They worked hard every day and not just in games. They treated every practice like the gift that it is especially with the situation we all faced this year. They push each other but they also pushed me to be a better coach and I am immensely grateful to them."

In the last two regular-season meetings between these two programs, the match was not settled until overtime with the Stags coming out on top by a 1-0 count both times. Today, Fairfield seemed to have a little more spring in their collective step and moved the ball around the pitch quickly and efficiently. The Stags opened up play early by using long passes that often found their mark up field. 

It was that precision passing that set up Fairfield's first goal of the game just four minutes into the game. Luzi Persiehl secured the ball on her side of the midfield circle and sent a pass that found its mark onto the stick of Matlach inside the Sacred Heart defensive third. She used stick work to find an opening and sent a shot past the goalkeeper that caught the lower corner of the goal just 3:53 into the game.

The Stags added their second goal in the second quarter when Profita inserted the ball off a penalty corner that worked its way to Halderson. The defender pushed the ball to her right to create space and released a shot that traveled diagonally across the pitch before the ball's path placed it into the far corner of the goal. By the end of the first half, Fairfield owned a 9-3 lead on shots and a slight 4-2 edge in penalty corners.

Fairfield doubled up its advantage in the third quarter by scoring twice over a 10-minute span that pushed the score to 4-0. Malen Iglesias posted the quarter's first goal when she redirected a shot from Persiehl at the top of the circle. Persiehl's attempt was on goal but Iglesias was able to put a stick on the ball to deflect it into the back of the cage. The lead went to 4-0 after Kelly Buckley tipped a ball past the goalkeeper off a pass from Iglesias in the 44th minute of the game.

Buckley closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter after she finished a play that started with Halderson sending the ball to the left portion of the circle where her teammate waited for the ball and sent a drive to the far corner of the goal. With the offense clicking, the goalkeeping tandem of Rosen and Colette Morgan combining for the shutout. One save was credited off four Sacred Heart shots which was credited to Rosen.