FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Fairfield University field hockey team will play a familiar foe in Wednesday's NCAA Tournament first round game as the Stags will take on the University of Delaware in Chapel Hill, N.C. Game time is scheduled for 2 pm. The winner of the game will advance to play top-ranked and host University of North Carolina in second round play.
Fairfield and Delaware are well acquainted in both regular-season and NCAA Championship play. The two teams met on the pitch in the 2024 regular-season finale with the Blue Hens coming away with a 2-0 win on their home turf. In 2021, the Stags traveled to Newark, Del. for the a match up in the NCAA Tournament with Fairfield nearly pulling off the upset of its nationally-ranked opponent. Trailing 3-0 in the third quarter, Fairfield rallied to score twice in that period and one more time in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. Delaware came back to post the deciding goal in the 10th minute of overtime.
The Stags earned the right to play in the national tournament this year by sweeping a pair of games in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship, defeating second-seeded Rider University and top-seeded Wagner College both by 2-1 scores.
Catalina Ness earned the tournament's most valuable player award for her performance which included the game-winning goal in the team's semifinal victory over Rider. In the championship game,
Rylee LaLoup registered the deciding goal in the 37th minute off a pass from
Courtland Schumacher.
Fairfield brings a 12-8 overall record into the tournament which includes a 6-2 NEC mark, winning 11 of their last 15 matches.
Konni Hofmann leads the team in scoring with seven goals and five assists for 19 points highlighted by her NEC semifinal goal that put Fairfield in front 1-0 early in the game. She has scored at least one point in 10 of the team's 20 games this season.
Alice Pifferi, who scored the team's first goal in the NEC championship game, places second among her teammates with 16 points off three goals and 10 assists. Her 10 assists are one shy of tying the school standard for assists in a season.
Pilar Mengotti ranks third among her teammates with 15 points most of which come off her five game-winning goals scored this season.
The Stags have used two goalkeepers during the season, namely senior
Payton Rahn and fifth-year
Emily Streib. Rahn owns a 0.76 goals against average and was in between the posts for the two NEC tournament wins. She has 25 saves to her credit which breaks down to a .806 save percentage. Streib sports a 1.44 goals against average with a .696 save percentage off 39 stops over her 13 appearances.
Delaware gains entry to the NCAA Tournament after its thrilling 4-3 overtime win over Monmouth University to capture the CAA championship. Valentina Martorelli received the tournament most valuable player after scoring a pair of goals in the title match. Lulu Fulton ended the game in extra time with her goal in the 69th minute. The win improved Delaware's overall record to 11-9 which includes a 3-3 mark in CAA play.
Martorelli leads the team in scoring with six goals and three assists for 15 points along with Janne Stoetzer's five goals and five assists to account for co-leading 15 points. In goal, Cecile van Eijck has handled the duties between the posts, collecting a 1.28 goals against average with a .750 save percentage off 81 saves over her starts this year.
