SETTING THE TABLE

Fairfield University women's lacrosse returns home this afternoon, taking on Manhattan in the first two consecutive home games to conclude the regular season. Opening draw between the Stags and the Jaspers is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. from the friendly confines of Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium.

LAST TIME OUT

A pair of late goals by Fairfield University women's lacrosse sent Saturday's game against Niagara to overtime, but the Purple Eagles struck first in sudden death, as the Stags fell 11-10.

Seven different players found the back of the net in the contest, including a trio of players who netted hat tricks in Amanda Kozak, Rylee Harrell, and Libby Rowe, while Elizabeth Talluto led the team in points with a single goal along with a pair of assists. Defensively, co-captain Kelly Horning paced the team with four ground balls, and Nicollette LaVista led the draw control marks with four, tied with Harrell. Co-captain Caroline Mangan and four other players forced two turnovers each by Purple Eagles players.

SCOUTING THE STAGS

Talluto leads the Stags with 48 points on the year and also paces the team in scoring with 36 goals, and sits ninth in the conference in goals per game average at 3.43/game. Horning sits second in the scoring column with 30 goals in addition to 12 assists for 42 points total, ahead of Libby Rowe who sits third on the team in both goals (26) and points (40). The Stags have spread the wealth all season long, with five different players scoring 20 or more goals, with Ellie Grefenstette just one goal away from joining that group, and she is tied with Olivia Doody for the team-lead in assists, dishing out 18, with the pair tied for the ninth-best assist per game average in the MAAC.

On defense, LaVista has corralled a team-high 71 draw controls, nearly double the next best mark, that being 41 controls by Horning. Horning also leads the team in ground balls with 34 and leads all active Division I players in ground balls for a career. She has also caused the most turnovers of any Stag, forcing 23, and is the current program record holder in both ground balls and forced turnovers.

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

With 71 draw controls on the year heading into the final week of the regular season, LaVista is now fourth on the all-time list for most draw controls in a single season for a women's lacrosse player. 

SCOUTING THE JASPERS

Grace Lipponer leads the Manhattan offense into play with 51 goals and 26 assists this season, just six goals away from breaking the single-season record at Manhattan, and four helpers shy of the Jaspers' single-season mark for assists as well. Lipponer is averaging the second most goals her game in the MAAC this season, and leads the league in points per game. The dual threat on offense also averages the sixth best assists per game mark as well.

Defensively, Andrea Liotta has collected a team-high 38 ground balls, and sits second in draw controls with 78. Leading in the center circile is Clare McCooe who has corralled 93 on the year as a draw specialist for the Jaspers. Liotta has forced the most turnovers of any player, causing 31 by opposing teams.

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 Saturday in the 2022 regular-season finale as they celebrate Senior Day against Canisius. Opening draw between the Stags and the Griffins is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. from Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium.