FAIRFIELD, Conn. – When teams arrive to campus for the start of preseason each January, every college lacrosse team has the same goal in mind: play as far into May as possible. While the same can be said for the Fairfield University women's lacrosse team, striving to play in postseason goes beyond vying for a spot in the conference tournament, but making the national bracket.
In a league where winning the postseason tournament guarantees a bid into the NCAA Tournament, getting hot at the right time can mean all the difference in making it as one of the 29 teams to hear their name on Selection Sunday. Despite entering this weekend's MAAC Tournament as the four-time defending champions, the Stags showed the league first-hand last season that seeding is only one part of the equation when it comes to hoisting the league trophy.
As the No. 4 seed in the MAAC Tournament a year ago Fairfield won its way through a first-round home game against Niagara, before heading to Loudonville, N.Y. for championship weekend. They would take down the hosts, Siena 10-8, before beating No. 1 seed Monmouth 14-11 to win the MAAC title and advance to the NCAA Tournament once again. They would go up against National Ranked No. 5 Syracuse, but the tournament was moved to Princeton University setting up a neutral site battle for the Stags in the opening round. Taking the lead after one quarter of play the Stags would remain within two goals for most of the contest, and nearly drew level with the Orange in the closing seconds.
Taking a top-five team in the country to the wire left a chip on the shoulder of the entire Fairfield squad, including a quartet of then seniors used their final year of eligibility to return to the University this spring. While on paper they are listed as two defenders and two midfielders, in reality the Stags returned a leader at each third of the field and one at the draw, giving them an all-around core with a plethora of talent alongside them. Fairfield returned all but a handful of players from the team a year ago, and despite departing one of the program's best players after last season, didn't miss a beat when they hit the field this spring.
Coming into the 2023 postseason, the Stags rank atop the MAAC and among the top 30 or better in nearly every major statistical category including the ninth-best scoring defense in the nation, while also stand third in ground balls per game, fifth in caused turnovers per game, and ninth in scoring defense. Fairfield also ranked among the top-20 teams in the country in assists per game, draw control percentage, scoring margin and win percentage.
Individually the Stags also have seven players who sits among the national leaders a variety of categories, including a pair of those returning grad students in Caroline Mangan and Ellie Grefenstette, with Mangan ranking 21st in the nation in caused turnovers per game and Grefenstette placing 34th in shot percentage converting at over a 50% clip. In addition to those two Lindsey Barnes also places among the national leaders as one of Fairfield's top defenders, placing eighth in the nation at 2.86 caused turnovers per contest.
Offensively, Olivia Doody sits among the top-25 players in the country in both assists and assists per game, and Elizabeth Talluto is one of the top scorers across the country with 45 goals at 2.81 per game. In her second year the cage, Casey Collins has the eighth best goals against average of any Division I netminder, and top-50 in save percentage.
The 2023 non-conference calendar saw the Stags take on four teams who made the NCAA Tournament the year prior. Opening the non-conference slate with two wins in its first three games, the Stags took down Holy Cross at home before going toe-to-toe with UConn, falling in a high scoring affair 18-17 to the Huskies who at the time were receiving votes in the National Polls. Fairfield would return home and take a win over Wagner, and after a road loss to UAlbany, would close the first month of the campaign with a 15-7 win over Hofstra.
A four-game road stint in March saw the Stags win two of their final three games in non-conference play, defeating Vermont and Sacred Heart before turning their attention to the MAAC slate at the end of the month. Starting with a bye on the opening day of league action, the Stags would embark to Iona where they would win 15-9 to open MAAC play. They would then return home for three straight to begin April, opening with a dominating win over Marist, and a defensive battle against Quinnipiac, their opponent in Friday's semifinals, before taking down Siena 17-9.
Hitting the road for their first trip to The Mount, the Stags would win 16-8, before returning home to host Niagara, suffering the lone conference loss in a close one-goal contest. The Stags would bounce back with a pair of road wins at Manhattan and Canisius, clinching the top-seed in the tournament with a 13-3 win over the Jaspers in Riverdale. With their eyes set on another trip to the NCAA Tournament, the journey begins tomorrow afternoon on the friendly confines of the Stags' home turf.
The 2023 MAAC Semifinals and Championships will be held May 5 and 7 kicking off from Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium on 12:00 p.m. Friday when the top-seeded Stags take on No. 4 seed Quinnipiac for a spot in Sunday's championship game. Live coverage of both games will be on ESPN+.
