FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A battle of the only remaining unbeaten teams in the MAAC went the way of the home side Saturday afternoon as Fairfield University women's lacrosse defeated Siena 17-9 on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium.
"I think that's probably the most complete, all-around game we've seen all year," said Head Coach Laura Field following the victory. "Give credit to Siena, we never felt like the game was ever totally in-hand - and that may sound a bit strange given the score = but they're a great team and were capable of powering through us. Their first two goals and last two goals were in a cluster, but between that we were able to respond to almost everything. and that's what we're most proud of from the effort today."
Siena would take a brief lead on two occasions in the opening quarter after the Stags kicked off the scoring just over five minutes in. A three-goal run in the final three minutes of the frame gave the Stags a 5-3 lead after one quarter of play and a four-score second stanza bookended by a pair of Saints goals gave Fairfield a 9-5 cushion at the break. They would stretch the lead even further with the first two scores of the third and six of seven goals in the quarter to extend a nine-goal advantage and despite three of the final five coming from Siena players in the fourth, would see out an all-around effort by the squad.
The Stags wrap their homestand with a sweep of three matches to open the month of April and now sit as the final remaining unbeaten team in the MAAC at 4-0, with the Saints dropping to 4-1. Fairfield has also not allowed double digit goals in eight of its last nine contests, while outscoring MAAC opponents 61-27 at the midway point of the conference season.
"Between the 30's we were outstanding, and I credit that a lot to Lindsay [Epstein] who's coaching our midfield for what we're doing on the draw and on clears," said Coach Field. "I think it's something we've seen pieces of in the games thus far but today was great to see. We're really unselfish, it doesn't really matter who gets the ground ball or the box out which is really awesome, and I think the unit is working really well together."
Eight different players reached the back of the net in the afternoon as the Stags also assisted on nine of those goals which included five helpers from Olivia Doody who has tallied five twice in the last three games. She was tied atop the point totals alongside Ellie Grefenstette who tallied one of three hat tricks for her side in addition to two assists, while Maggie Fort added a season-high four points with a pair of goals and the remaining two assists.
Elsewhere offensively, Rylee Harrell tacked on a hat-trick as did Elizabeth Talluto, while Haley Burns netted two goals, and both Grace Slater and Caroline Mangan both adding a single score. Defensively Nicollette LaVista lit up the draw control numbers once again with a game-high of nine which marks the second time she has done so in MAAC play this season, and was followed by a season-high five from Mangan who also led the caused turnover department with four.
As the second half of the conference slate gets rolling the Stags will play three of their final four regular season games away from home including their next meeting Wednesday with a trip to Emmitsburg, Md. for the first-ever MAAC meeting with Mount St. Mary's. Opening draw between the Stags and the Mountaineers is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
