SETTING THE TABLE

Fairfield University women's lacrosse returns to action Wednesday, traveling to Pennsylvania to take on Lafayette. Opening draw between the Stags and the Leopards is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from Fisher Stadium in Easton, PA.

HISTORY VS LAFAYETTE

Wednesday will mark just the fifth meeting all-time between Fairfield and Lafayette, and the first since the 2002 season. The Leopards have won all four of the prior meetings with the Stags, all of which came in the first five seasons in Fairfield women's lacrosse's program history.

LAST TIME OUT

In a game dominated by the defenses, four different players found the back of the net Saturday as women's lacrosse fell to Hofstra 9-5.

Kelly Horning led the Stags' offense with a pair of goals, ahead of three players who scored once, including Brooke Marotti who netted the first goal of her collegiate career early in the third quarter. Defensively, Horning and Nicolette LaVista each collected a pair of draw controls, and Horning finished alongside Caroline Mangan and Julia Rigolizzo with two ground balls apiece. In the cage, Casey Collins made a career-high 12 saves in the second start of her career, a .571 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE STAGS

Fairfield enters Saturday at 3-2 on the year and are looking to bounce back from a closely-contested 9-5 loss to Hofstra last weekend. The Stags will also be playing their first game under the lights this season when they take on the Leopards.

Rylee Harrell paces the Stags offense with 12 goals on the year, and sits third on the team in total points with 15.  Libby Rowe and Elizabeth Talluto sit atop the scoring column for Fairfield on the young season with 11 goals apiece, and Rowe's seven assists on the puts her two ahead of Talluto for the team lead in both assists and points.

On defense, Nicolette LaVista has corralled a team-high 18 draw controls, more than double the next best mark, that being nine controls by Harrell. Co-Captain Kelly Horning leads the team with 11 ground balls on the year and also leads all active Division I players in ground balls for a career, and she has also caused the most turnovers of any Stag, forcing nine thus far.

SCOUTING THE LEOPARDS

Lafayette will look to snap a two-game losing streak Saturday when they host the Stags in the second of four straight home matches that wraps up with the Leopards' conference opener against American University next weekend.

While no player has reached double figures in goals, Olivia Cunningham and Clare Culligan sit just off of that mark with nine goals apiece, and with four assists on the year, Cunningham hold the overall points lead with 13. Sarah Bennett has been a scorer's best friend this season, dishing out a team-best seven assists, while also scoring once this season.

Defensively, Bennett holds a slim lead in draw controls with eight, ahead of Katie Chiasson with seven and a pair of players with six. Abby Romano leads the team in draw controls with ten, one ahead of Lindsey Geiger, who has forced a team-high eight turnovers.

HORNING SETS PROGRAM RECORD FOR GROUND BALLS

With a ground ball in the first half of a Feb. 16 meeting with UConn, Kelly Horning collected the 170^th ground ball of her career, passing Mary Tortora for the all-time record at Fairfield University.

PROCTOR NABS MAAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

It took just two weeks for a member of the Fairfield University women's lacrosse team to earn weekly honors from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), as goalkeeper Phoebe Proctor was named Defensive Player of the Week by the league Monday. The award for Proctor follows a two-match week that saw her play all 120 minutes in the cage, and picked up her second win of the season on the road last Saturday at Wagner.

STAGS EARN TOP SPOT IN MAAC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

With less than two weeks before the season opener for Fairfield University Women's Lacrosse, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced the results of the 2022 Preseason Coaches' Poll, with the Stags tabbed to finish atop the conference standings once again.

The three-time defending MAAC champions, Fairfield took home 77 overall points in the poll, including six first-place nods, finishing just ahead of 2019 and 2021 runner-up Siena with 75 points and the remaining three votes. Monmouth, Niagara, and Quinnipiac round out the top five, followed by Marist, Canisius, Manhattan, and Iona who make up No. 6 through No. 9 in the poll.

HORNING NAMED MAAC PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR

In addition to the Coaches' poll, Kelly Horning was named the 2022 Preseason Player of the Year, after leading the team with 37 goals last season. Horning and Caroline Mangan were selected as Preseason All-MAAC.

Horning's preseason nod comes as she returns to the Stags for a fifth-year after garnering MAAC Midfielder of the Year honors following the 2021 regular season and has made the All-MAAC First-Team squad in each of the last two seasons.

Mangan was the 2021 MAAC Championship MVP after racking up eight caused turnover in the Stags' run to the title. She was also an All-MAAC Second Team honoree, compiling 18 caused turnovers and 14 ground balls while often charged with marking one of the opposition's top attackers.

SEASON SNAPSHOT

The 2022 schedule includes 16 dates overall, including seven games within the friendly confines of Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium. The first half of the schedule features matchups from five different conferences before an eight-game MAAC slate as the Stags look to claim their fourth consecutive conference championship.

LOOKING AHEAD

Fairfield women's lacrosse is back in action Tuesday, as the Stags head across the country to take on Denver. Opening draw between the Stags and Pioneers is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. from Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in Denver, Colo.