SETTING THE TABLE
Fairfield University women's lacrosse concludes a three game road trip Saturday afternoon as they head to the Empire State to take on Siena. Opening draw between the Stags and the Saints is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Loudonville, N.Y.
LAST TIME OUT
It took just over a minute for Fairfield University women's lacrosse to find the back of the net Wednesday, and they never looked back from there, taking down Quinnipiac 19-9. With the victory the Stags have now won four games in a row, including a 3-0 start to conference play.
On the offensive side of the ball, Elizabeth Talluto went off for seven goals on the day, one shy of the most in a single game in school history, and led a group of five Stags to reach the back of the net. Horning netted four goals on the day in addition to a single assist, and Libby Rowe and Amanda Kozak each completed hat tricks on the afternoon. Defending MAAC player of the week Ellie Grefenstette tallied five points against the Bobcats, scoring twice and dishing out three helpers, with a pair of players tallying a single assist in both Fort and Olivia Doody.
Defensively, co-captain Kelly Horning forced four turnovers by the Bobcats to lead her side against Quinnipiac. Maggie Fort and co-captain Caroline Mangan each collected a pair of ground balls and Keyla Bay forced three turnovers, ahead of Mangan who forced two. In the cage, Olivia Conquest earned her third win of the season, stopping a season high 12 shots for a .512 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE STAGS
Fairfield concludes a three-game road trip with Saturday's visit to Siena, and look to extend their winning streak to five games, and remain undefeated in MAAC play.
Leading the Stags into the weekend is Libby Rowe who has tallied the most points on the team with 36 by way of 23 goals and 13 assists. Pacing the team in the scoring column is Elizabeth Talluto with 27, ahead of co-captain Kelly Horning with 24, followed by Rowe and Rylee Harrell with with 23. MAAC Player of the Week Ellie Grefenstette comes into the weekend as the Stags' leader in the assist column with 18 on the year, in addition to 16 goals, tied for the third-best point total on the team.
On defense, Nicollette LaVista has corralled a team-high 53 draw controls, nearly double the next best mark, that being 31 controls by Horning. Horning also leads the team in ground balls with 24 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 20.
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.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING
With 59 draw controls on the year following Wednesday, Nicollette LaVista moved up from sixth to fourth on the all-time list for most draw controls in a single season for a women's lacrosse player. For her career LaVista has collected 136 draw controls, currently the tied with Erin Rigby '10 for fifth most in a career in program history.
SCOUTING THE SAINTS
Siena comes into the weekend at 6-7 on the year, looking to snap a two-game skid after back-to-back wins to open MAAC play. The pair of defeats recently for the Saints have come at the hands of Monmouth (17-11) and Canisius (14-10).
Nicole McNeely leads Sienna's offense with 52 points on the year (27 goals, 25 assists) and Mary Soures leads the team with 40 goals despite only playing in nine of the Saints 13 games this season. Leading the assists totals is Grace Dobrzynski who has also scored 11 goals. McNeely has also been a force defensively, collecting 58 draw controls and a 33 ground balls both the best marks on the team.
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 Monmouth. Opening draw between the Stags and the Hawks is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. from Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium
