For the first time this season, the Fairfield University women's lacrosse team will venture out of the Nutmeg State as they head up to Albany, N.Y. to take on UAlbany. Opening draw between the Stags and the Great Danes is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. with coverage available on AmericaEast.tv.
LOOKING BACK ON THE ALL-TIME SERIES
Wednesday will mark the first-ever meeting between Fairfield and Albany.
SCOUTING THE ALBANY GREAT DANES
The Great Danes are playing their second consecutive home contest, still seeking their first win of the year after falling to No. 20 Johns Hopkins and Cornell to open the season. Despite the losses, the Great Danes have found the back of the net 25 times in their first two games. Shonly Wallace and Katie Pascale lead the goal totals with five apiece for their side, while Pascale has surpassed double-digit points with ten to lead the team. Haley Phalines has captured a team best 13 draw controls, followed by eight from Pascale and six from Sarah Falk.
STAGS SCOUTING REPORT
Elizabeth Talluto has racked up nine goals to pace the goal tallies for the Stags heading into Wednesday, and sits third in points behind Libby Rowe with 12 (7g, 5a) and Olivia Doody with 10 (6g, 4a). Overall the Stags have found the back of the cage 42 times this season and assisting on 18 of those goals and holding opponents to 35 and 11, with nine different players reaching the back of the net in the early portions of 2023.
Defensively, Rylee Harrell holds a narrow edge in the draw circle as she has snagged 13 controls this year, followed by 11 from Nicollette LaVista, who has seen most of the center circle time thus far. Caroline Mangan leads the Stags with nine caused turnovers, followed by Lindsey Barnes with six and Haley Burns with five. Mangan also leads the ground ball totals with eight on the year, followed by four players with four.
CHASING THE CENTURY MARK
In the Stags first road game last Wednesday at UConn, Libby Rowe became the newest member of the Fairfield women's lacrosse 100-point club for her career after a career-high six-goal performance against the Huskies. In addition to Rowe's achievement, classmate Ellie Grefenstette enters Wednesday needing just two points to eclipse the century point plateau herself.
PRESEASON PRIZES
Given their dominance particularly in the MAAC postseason, it's no surprise that the Stags were once again picked as the favorites to win the conference championship as voted on by the league's nine head coaches. Fairfield earned seven of nine first-place votes to top out the poll and placed three players on the all-preseason roster. Amongst the trio of honorees were Talluto, as well as LaVista, and Mangan, a testament to the Stags' strength at all positions heading into the season.
Talluto is coming off a season where she led the team in scoring and total points with 48 goals and 22 assists including 10 goals for the stags from free position. LaVista dominated the center circle for Fairfield a year ago, collecting a career high 97 draw controls, which is a top-five all-time mark for any Stag in a single season. Mangan helped control the back third of the field once again for the squad in 2022, as she collected 44 ground balls and helped to cause 25 turnovers by opponent attackers.
All-in-all the Stags garnered seven of the nine total first place votes in the poll, and received a total of 78 points to top out the standings. MAAC newcomers Mount St. Mary's place tied for second in the poll alongside Siena who both placed with 68 points and received one of the two remaining top bids. In fourth sloted Niagara who earned 51 points before another slight drop in points to the fifth spot with Canisius who totaled 39. Iona placed sixth in the poll, followed by Manhattan, Marist, and Quinnipiac to round out the nine-team MAAC contingent.
SURVEYING THE SEASON
This season's non-conference calendar for Field and the women's lacrosse team will see the squad face eight opponents representing the CAA, NEC, BIG EAST, America East, and Patriot League, including three defending league champions, before facing the eight-team MAAC contingent in the latter half of the campaign. Within the 16 total contests, the Stags will make seven appearances on the brand-new turf from Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium, including the season opener in February.
Fairfield will debut with three of its first five contests at home, before spending the entirety of the month of March on the road, with four matches on the docket that month, including the annual battle of Fairfield as the Stags head across town to play Sacred Heart. The road swing closes with the MAAC opener at Iona before a trio of home games that await the first week of April, followed by a trip to Maryland for the first in-conference meeting with Mount St. Mary's. One final date at home will see the Stags host Niagara, before back-to-back games in the Empire State to end the regular season.
2022 IN REVIEW
Fairfield women's lacrosse enters the year after what was a rollercoaster ride for the team in 2022 from the weeks leading into the opening game and all the way through the final seconds of the season. Three different players saw time as starting goalkeeper for the Stags, with now senior Casey Collins rising to the occasion after injuries riddled the Fairfield netminders, and helped the Stags on their way to the conference tournament.
The Stags lost just three games during the MAAC regular season to earn the No. 4 seed going into the MAAC postseason, and as fate would have it, Fairfield would face those same three teams on their road to the title game. The Stags defeated No. 5 Niagara in the opening round of the tournament at home, before upending championship weekend hosts, Siena in the semifinals, and Monmouth in the final to clinch the program's fourth consecutive MAAC Championship.
DOWN THE ROAD
After Wednesday's trip to Albany, Fairfield women's lacrosse is back in action Saturday when they return home to host Hofstra. Opening draw between the Stags and the Pride is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on ESPN3 from Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium.
