NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Another high scoring performance saw a pair of players net five or more points to lead the Fairfield University women's lacrosse team to a 15-9 victory over Iona in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener Wednesday afternoon.
A flurry of goals saw the offense nearly split its output between the two halves, heading into the break up 8-4 before tacking on another seven goals in the final two periods. Six players tallied points on the day, each registering at least two, with Olivia Doody leading the efforts with four assists and a pair of goals. Libby Rowe found the back of the net four times and a single helper, and Ellie Grefenstette with three goals and an assist and Elizabeth Talluto with a trio of scores completed a group of three Stags with a hat trick on the day.
Rounding out the scoring was Rylee Harrell with a goal and an assist, while on the defensive end she collected four ground balls, part of a group of 11 different players with one or more of the season-high 27 collected as a team. Leading that department was netminder Casey Collins who nabbed five while making 10 saves between the pipes, followed by Lindsay Barnes who had four ground balls alongside Harrell.
Pacing the draw controls for Fairfield was Libby Rowe who grabbed a career-high eight draws across the afternoon to lead Nicollette LaVista and Caroline Mangan with three apiece and Harrell with a single control as the Stags collected 15 as a team compared to 11 from Iona.
The Stags opened the day with three of the first four goals to take a 3-1 lead after 15 minutes of play, and would extend a five-goal run into the second quarter before a single score by the Gaels with 8:29 to play in the opening half. Fairfield would net back-to-back goals from Kozak and Talluto before a pair of scores from the home side gave the Stags an 8-4 advantage going into the locker room.
Out of the stoppage Fairfield would break out with the first five goals of the frame to push their largest lead of the contest at 13-4, but a four goal run by Iona would cut the lead down to five with just under five minutes to play. The Stags would tack on two more for good measure and the Gaels would net one more goal in the closing seconds to set the final scoreline.
After spending all four games in March away from home, Fairfield women's lacrosse will return to the friendly confines of Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium for its next three games to open the month of April. The stretch of home games kicks off this Saturday when they host Marist as part of a doubleheader alongside the men's squad. Opening draw between the Stags and the Red Foxes is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on ESPN+.
