EASTON, PA. – It was the Olivia Doody show in Pennsylvania Wednesday night as the junior attack shined in her home state, collecting a game-high eight points to help the Fairfield University women's lacrosse team take down Lafayette, 20-12.
With the win, Fairfield improves to 4-2 on the season and earn the program's first ever win over Lafayette, having last faced the Leopards back in 2003. The 20 goals by the Fairfield offense was also the highest scoring total since Apr. 8, 2011, when the Stags put up the same total in a blowout win over Niagara, 21-5.
Individually, Doody entered Wednesday still looking for her first collegiate point, used her initial goal in the first quarter as a springboard towards her eight-point total against the Leopards, which stands as her highest single-game output with the Stags and the most points by any Fairfield player in a single game this season.
Doody's eight points came via four goals and four assists, as she led both categories, while Ellie Grefenstette was able to match Doody's scoring output scoring four times as well and dishing out a pair of helpers. Four players scored hat trick's in the game for Fairfield, with Libby Rowe and Amanda Kozak providing the other two, scoring three goals apiece. Rowe also added a pair of assists to her totals as she continues to lead the team in goals (14), assists (9), and points (23).
Elsewhere on the score sheet Elizabeth Talluto found the back of the net twice in addition to a single assist, co-captain Kelly Horning scored a pair while also passing out three assists, and Maggie Fort rounded out the offensive numbers for the Stags with a single goal on the day.
Defensively, Julia Rigolizzo and co-captain Caroline Mangan paced the ground ball totals with three apiece, followed by two each from Horning and Fort. In the center circle, Nicollette LaVista and Rylee Harrell collected five draw controls each, and Horning corralled three while also forcing a team-best five turnovers. In the cage, Casey Collins stepped up once again for Fairfield making 11 saves on the day, one away from tying her career-high.
Lafayette was the first to find the back of the net, doing so just over a minute into the game to take an early lead. The home side would tack on two more to extend a 3-0 advantage before Doody's first career goal would put Fairfield on the board with the first of three scores in the final four minutes by the Stags to level the match after one quarter of play.
The Leopards would once again score early to regain the lead before Horning netted her first goal of the day with Fairfield down a player to tie the game at four. Back-to-back goals by Lafayette a few minutes apart, would put the Stags back down by two before Kozak scored with 5:02 left in the half, to put the visitors back within one. Her goal would spark a 6-0 run by the Stags that wouldn't be answered by the Leopards until the closing seconds, giving Fairfield a three-goal lead at the break.
Out of halftime, the defenses would keep both sides off the board for more than three minutes before Grefenstette added her second score of the day to regain a four-goal advantage. That would be the first in another scoring run by the Stags to put the Stags up 15-7, before Abby Romano scored the only goal for Lafayette in the quarter to bring the home team back within seven. Mangan would score her first of the season a few minutes later and Grefenstette would add one more to complete her hat trick as Fairfield took a nine-goal cushion into the final frame.
Heading into the fourth, the Stags would strike quickly as Doody netted her fourth to extend the lead to double figures, and Kozak completed the fourth Fairfield hat trick on the day when she found the back of the net a few minutes later. After Lafayette got one back, Horning scored her second of the day to push the Stags past the 20-goal count, the final score of the day for Fairfield, as the Leopards would score the final three goals of the contest.
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.
