SETTING THE TABLE

Fairfield University women's lacrosse returns home this afternoon, taking on Monmouth in the first home contest for the team in two weeks. Opening draw between the Stags and the Hawks is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. from the friendly confines of Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT

A high-scoring affair on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium saw women's lacrosse fall to Monmouth, 21-16 on Wednesday.Co-captain Kelly Horning led the Fairfield offense in both points and goals with five goals and a pair of assists, leading a group of six Stags who tallied at least one point on the day. Rylee Harrell finished second on the team with four goals, followed by Elizabeth Talluto and Maggie Fort who each scored a hat trick, with Talluto also adding two assists, and Fort tallying one. Libby Rowe added a single goal on the day, and Olivia Doody notched a single helper.

Defensively, co-captain Caroline Mangan led the ground ball totals with three alongside netminder Casey Collins, ahead of Amanda Kozak with two and five players who each collected one. In the draw control department, Nicollette LaVista led the team with three alongside Maggie Fort, followed by a pair of players with two in Harrell, and Haley Burns. Grace MacCallum forced three turnovers by the Hawks, the most by any Stags today, followed by two players who forced two apiece.

SCOUTING THE STAGS

Leading the Stags into the weekend is Elizabeth Talluto who has tallied the most points on the team with 45 and also paces the team in scoring with 35 goals on the year. Co-Captain Kelly Horning sits second in the scoring column with 29 goals in addition to 12 assists for 41 points total, ahead of Libby Rowe sits second in third on the team in goals (24) and points (38). The Stags have spread the wealth all season long, with five different players scoring 20 or more goals, with Ellie Grefenstette just two points away from joining that group, and she is tied with Olivia Doody for the team-lead in assists, dishing out 18.

On defense, Nicollette LaVista has corralled a team-high 67 draw controls, double the next best mark, that being 37 controls by Horning, who was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. Horning also leads the team in ground balls with 29 and also leads all active Division I players in ground balls for a career. She has also caused the most turnovers of any Stag, forcing 21, and is the current program record holder in both ground balls and forced turnovers.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

With 67 draw controls on the year following Wednesday, Nicollette LaVista is now to fourth on the all-time list for most draw controls in a single season for a women's lacrosse player. 

SCOUTING THE PURPLE EAGLES

Niagara enters this weekends contest at 8-5 on the season, and 4-1 in conference play, most recently defeating Marist 16-10 on Wednesday. Lois Garlow leads the Purple Eagles' offense with 38 goals and 14 assists to pace both categories. Jess Foley has corralled a team high 29 ground balls and Rachel Crane has collected 32 draw controls as the leaders on defense for the home side this weekend.

HORNING TABBED MAAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Following another strong performance on both ends of the field, women's lacrosse claimed its fourth weekly award of the year from the MAAC as co-captain Kelly Horning was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Week by the conference on Apr. 11. A two-way threat as always, Horning stuffed the stat sheet in a pair of matches for the Stags last weekend. She totaled eight ground balls, 11 draw controls and five caused turnovers in games at Quinnipiac and Siena on defense, in addition to tallying five points over the weekend against the Bobcats, where she found the back of the net four times.

HORNING SETS PROGRAM RECORD FOR FORCED TURNOVERS

Co-captain Kelly Horning forced four turnovers by the Quinnipiac offense last time out, bringing her career mark to 111, which surpasses Kate Riitano for the most career caused turnovers in program history. Horning now holds the school record for caused turnovers in a career as well as the most ground balls in a career with 191 and counting, including three against the Bobcats.

GREFENSTETTE NAMED MAAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Fairfield University women's lacrosse jumped out to a 2-0 start in MAAC play, helped in large part by Ellie Grefenstette who was announced as Offensive Player of the Week by the league office on Apr. 4. In a pair of matches, Grefenstette nearly doubled her points total from the first eight games of the season, tallying 13 after ending non-conference play with 13. In the MAAC opener on Wednesday she scored a pair of goals while dishing out three assists, before finding the net four times in Saturday's trip to Marist while also handing out four helpers, leading the team with eight points on the day.

COLLINS NAMED MAAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

At a moment's notice, goalkeeper Casey Collins stepped up to the plate in a pair of matches last week for the Fairfield University women's lacrosse team and today was named Defensive Player of the Week by the MAAC on Feb. 28. Collins made her first collegiate start Feb. 23 against Boston University, stopping seven shots to help the Stags earn their first win over the Terriers, in what was also Collins first victory between the pipes. She followed up that performance with a 12-save effort that helped keep Hofstra under double-digit goals in the contest.

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 MAAC, as goalkeeper Phoebe Proctor was named Defensive Player of the Week by the league on Feb. 21. 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.

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 170th ground ball of her career, passing Mary Tortora for the all-time record at Fairfield University.

STAGS EARN TOP SPOT IN MAAC PRESEASON COACHES' POLL

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 was also selected to the Preseason All-MAAC roster.

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 NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-MAAC ROSTER

After racking up eight caused turnovers in the Stags' run to the title last season and being named the 2021 MAAC Championship MVP, co-captain Caroline Mangan was named to the 2022 preseason All-MAAC roster. Mangan in addition to her postseason accolades was named 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 Wednesday when they return to the Nutmeg State to host Manhattan in the final midweek action of the 2022 regular season. Opening draw between the Stags and the Jaspers is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. from Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium.