LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – Despite a strong start to the contest, a quiet offensive second half proved to be the difference for Fairfield University women's lacrosse in a 16-11 defeat at Siena Saturday afternoon, a rematch of the 2021 MAAC Championship Game.
Elizabeth Talluto once again led the scoring for the Fairfield offense, finding the back of the net five times, taking over the team lead in points with 40 on the year and she continues to lead in goals scored with 32. Talluto led a group of four Stags to tally a goal in the contest, including Rylee Harrell netted a hat-trick on the day and Ellie Grefenstette who added two. Amanda Kozak also netted a goal in addition to an assist, while Olivia Doody completed a helper's hat-trick with three assists.
Defensively, the Stags were led by co-captain Kelly Horning who paced the team in both draw controls with six and ground balls with five. Nicollette LaVista collected five draws on the day, as her and Horning continue to move up the career draw controls list at Fairfield.
Horning in today's game passed Chloe Mangan '13 for fourth on the all-time list, and currently sits at 142 controls for her career, and LaVista has collected 139, just two shy of tying Mangan's number. LaVista is also chasing the single season draw control record and with 64 to this point in the season, she has collected the third most all-time, needing to reach 86 by the end of the season to tie for second with Erin Mammele '19 who collected that number in 2017, before setting what is the current record at Fairfield with 123 in 2018.
Siena opened the scoring less than two minutes into play off of a free-position attempt, before Rylee Harrell found the back of the net for Fairfield to level the match at one. That would spark a three-goal run by the visitors, who took a 3-1 at the midway point of the quarter, before the Saints scored the next six goals to take a 7-3 advantage after 15 minutes of play.
The home side would add another goal in the second frame, before Talluto notched her second of the day to cut the deficit back to four. Siena would answer quickly, and the two teams would trade goals back and forth three times in the quarter, before a pair of late goals by the Stags sent the teams in the locker room separated by three goals.
Out of the half, Harrell and Grefenstette netted back to back scores for Fairfield to cut the Siena lead to one with just over three minutes player in the third. Those would be the only scores for the Stags offense as the Saints tallied the final four goals of the quarter, to take a 14-9 lead heading into the final period.
It took nearly five minutes to see a goal in the final stanza, but Siena was able to tack on a pair of goals to extend a seven-point advantage, the largest lead of the day. Amanda Kozak would score late, and feed Grefenstette for one final goal late in the quarter to cut back in by two, and set the final difference at five-goals.
Fairfield women's lacrosse returns home to the Nutmeg State for their next contest Wednesday, hosting Monmouth. 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.
