SETTING THE TABLE
Following a 14-11 win over Monmouth to win the 2022 MAAC Championship last weekend, Fairfield University women's lacrosse will begin its quest for a national title this weekend. The 2022 NCAA Tournament kicks off for the Stags Friday as they take on nationally ranked #5 Syracuse in the first of two first round games on the campus of Princeton University. Opening draw between the Stags and the No. 5 Orange is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. from Sherrard Field at Class of 1952 Stadium in Princeton, N.J. with live coverage available on ESPN+.

SCOUTING THE STAGS
Fairfield University women's lacrosse claimed the 2022 MAAC Championship last Sunday, earning the program's seventh overall conference title, with this year marking the fourth consecutive season the Stags have hoisted the trophy. With that, Fairfield has also claimed the auto-bid to the national tournament for the fourth year in a row as well, with Friday being the sixth appearance for the program in the big dance.

The Stags hosted Canisius in the first round of the MAAC tournament on Apr. 30, defeating the Griffs, 15-7 to advance to the quarterfinals, where they took down semifinal hosts, second-seeded Siena, 10-8 to advance to the championship game. In the title bout, Fairfield trailed by one at the half to top-seeded Monmouth but rallied back to tie the game heading into the fourth, where the Stags would take the lead and see it through to the final horn to lift, becoming just the second school in conference history to win four-straight MAAC titles.

Fairfield concluded the regular season with a 10-6 record on the year, including five wins in conference play. The Stags' reached double-digit wins for the fourth time in the last five seasons under Coach Field, with the lone exception being the Pandemic shortened 2020 season where they played just seven games before the season was canceled. Four players were named to 2022 All-MAAC rosters for their play this season, on a team that has spread the workload both offensively and defensively all-year long.

Elizabeth Talluto leads the Fairfield offense into the NCAA Tournament after tallying a team-best 67 points on the year, scoring 47 goals in addition to 20 assists. Co-captain Kelly Horning sits second in scoring with 39 goals in addition to 16 assists for 46 points. The Stags have spread the wealth all season long, with sevendifferent players scoring 20 or more goals and one other player just outside of that group. Olivia Doody has led the assist numbers with 31 in addition to 17 goals and Ellie Grefenstette has dished out 24 helpers while also finding the back of the net 26 times.

On defense, LaVista has corralled a team-high 95 draw controls, nearly double the next best mark, that being 47 controls by Horning, who leads the team in ground balls with 50 and leads all active Division I players in ground balls for a career. She has also caused the most turnovers of any Stag, forcing 38, and is the current program record holder in both ground balls and forced turnovers.

FAIRFIELD FAST FACTS

-        With Saturday's win in the MAAC Championship, Horning individually improves to a perfect 11-0 to end her conference playing career and is the only player that was a part of all four championship teams. The fifth-year player also set program records this season in both ground balls and caused turnovers and sits amongst the top three players all time in goals scored and draw controls as a Stag.

-        The 2022 championship for the Stags marks the third time ever a team has won three games to win the MAAC title, with the other teams also being the Stags' championship teams from 2018 and 2021.

-        The Stags became the fourth MAAC team ever to beat both the No. 1 and No. 2 seed on their way winning the conference championship.

-        LaVista has collected 95 draw controls this season, which is the second most draw controls collected by any Stag in a single season, trailing only Erin Mammele '19 who tallied 123 in the 2018 season. For her career she has collected 172 draws for her career also the second-highest mark in school history, which is behind Mammele's program record of 271.

-        Talluto has paced the Stags for most of the year in total points and enters the NCAA tournament with 67 on the year, the ninth-best single-season total in program history. With 47 goals entering Friday, Talluto is also tied for sixth all-time for most goals in a single season, tied with Beth Loffredo '06 who had 47 during the 2003 campaign.

-        Coming into Friday with 31 assists, Doody has registered the third most-helpers in a single season as a Stag, needing four against the Orange to tie Brooke Gallagher '19 for second-most, where she had 35 in the 2019 season.

-        With 50 ground balls this season, Horning leads the team and has the 12^th best single season mark in school history, passing her own record from 2019 and trailing her 2018 total where she had 52.

FOUR STAGS CLAIM ALL-MAAC HONORS AHEAD OF MAAC QUARTERFINALS
Ahead of the opening round of the 2022 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships, four members of the Fairfield University women's lacrosse team earned All-MAAC nominations. The Stags' 2022 co-captains Kelly Horning and Caroline Mangan highlighted the group, earning First Team accolades, while both Elizabeth Talluto and Nicollette LaVista nabbed Second Team honors.

SCOUTING THE NO. 5 SYRACUSE ORANGE
No. 5 Syracuse enter the NCAA tournament via an at-large bid after falling to Virginia Tech in the ACC Semifinals last weekend. The Orange ended the regular season at 13-4 (6-2 ACC) which included four wins over Top-25 opponents. Of the 29 teams in the championship field, Syracuse competed against 11 of them during the 2022 season, including matchups against three of the top four seeds in the bracket in North Carolina, Boston College, and Northwestern.

Friday will mark the 19^th year the Orange have appeared in the NCAA tournament, most recently making a run to the title game in 2021 where they fell to Boston College, who started its tournament run that season with a win over Fairfield in the first round.

Meaghan Tyrrell leads Syracuse into the NCAA tournament one point shy of the century mark this season, having scored 67 goals in addition to 32 assists. The Orange have a pair of 60 goal scorers on the year, with Emily Hawryschuk being the other, scoring 60 goals and 23 helpers, followed by Emma Tyrrell and Megan Carney with 30 goals each. As a team the Syracuse offense has the seventh highest scoring average in the nation at 16.39/games.

Defensively, Bianca Chevarie and Kimber Hower pace the ground ball totals with 25 apiece, followed by Sarah Cooper and Katie Goodale with 23 each. Kate Mashewske dominated the draw control numbers with 153 on the year and is averaging the fifth most draw controls per game of any Division I player in the country with 8.50/game. Goodale has forced the most turnovers of any player for the Orange, followed by 18 forced by Cooper.

THE 2022 NCAA TOURNAMENT PICTURE

29 teams make up the field for the 2022 NCAA women's lacrosse tournament, with the top three seeds earning byes to the second round. UNC enters as the only undefeated team in the nation at 18-0 and winners of the ACC tournament. Maryland at 17-1, claimed the Big Ten championship last weekend and earned the No. 2 seed in the field. The final team in the trio is Boston College who enters as the No. 3 seed at 16-3 this season. Overall, 15 teams, including the Stags earned automatic bids into the tournament for winning their respective conference championships, with the other 14 spots filled by at-large bids.

First and second round games will be held on Friday, May 13 and Sunday, May 15 at eight host sites, before the four quarterfinals games, which will be held the following Thursday, and broadcasted live on ESPNU. The four teams remaining will head to Johns Hopkins University at Homewood for the national semifinals on Friday, May 27 with a champion being crowned on Sunday, May 29 live on ESPN.

LOOKING AHEAD
The winner of the first semifinal will play the winner of the second semifinal between the host Tigers and Massachusetts on Sunday for a spot in the national quarterfinals.