FAIRFIELD, Conn. – With two weeks left in the regular season, the Fairfield University field hockey team is looking to build upon its own success over the last few weeks. Since a 1-0 setback against Rider University on September 27, the Stags have reeled off seven straight victories which has placed them in a three-way tie for the top spot in the Northeast Conference (NEC) standings.
Four games remain on the 2024 docket with two of those dates featuring NEC opponents. The first of those two conference foes is Saint Francis University, who the Stags face on Friday afternoon. This season, the Red Flash check into the weekend with an 8-7 overall record and a 3-3 conference slate.
The team features Consu de Castro who ranks as one of the NEC's top offensive performers, scoring 10 goals and adding two assists for 22 points over her 15 starts this year. She places second among all NEC scorers for goals scored and is fourth in the conference for points per game (1.47).
She is joined by Madison Waldspurger as another scoring threat from the midfield position scoring six goals and five assists for 17 points. Mia DiGenova handles the goalkeeper duties for St. Francis, collecting all 15 starts this season. She sports a 1.76 goals against average with a .766 save percentage off 85 stops.
Fairfield will return to non-conference play later in the weekend, heading to Villanova University for a Sunday afternoon match up. The two teams have been regulars on each other's schedule, missing only the 2020 campaign since 2014. The Stags won seven of those nine dates since that year. The Wildcats bring a 7-7 overall record into Sunday's action as well as a 2-3 Big East slate.
Sabine de Ruijter paces the offense with 12 goals and two assists for 26 points, posting at least one goal in seven of her 14 appearances in 2024. She highlighted the season with her four-goal effort in a 5-1 win over Penn on October 6. Meghan Mitchell is next in line with her 16 points, registering six goals and four assists. Goalkeeper Maddi Sears has garnered time in all 14 games this year, recording a 1.87 goals against average with a .658 save percentage.
During Fairfield's seven-game win streak, defender
Pilar Mengotti tallied the game-winning goal four times which increased her season total to five deciding goals. She leads the NEC in that category with the next best total standing at three game winners by Saint Francis' Dolores Zavaleta and Rider's Olivia Machiavelli. Mengotti places second among her teammates with 13 points, adding three assists to her season total.
Goalkeepers
Emily Streib and
Payton Rahn have split the last three games for the Stags with each playing 90 minutes over the stretch. The Fairfield defense has yielded no goals over the last four games which brings the team's total to five shutouts on the season. Streib owns a 1.60 goals against average with a .780 save percentage (32 saves) while Rahn has a 1.02 goals against average with a 812 save percentage (13 stops).
Following this weekend's schedule, the Stags will return to campus for their final regular-season home game of 2024. Fairfield plays Stonehill College in a NEC match up on November 1 before heading to the University of Delaware for the regular-season finale on November 3.
