FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Women's Lacrosse hosted a ranked opponent for the second straight game Saturday on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium. The Stags defeated #23 UAlbany, 15-10, achieving their second consecutive win over an IWLCA nationally-ranked opponent. The victory was also the 93rd at Fairfield for Head Coach Laura Field, making her the program's new all-time record holder.
With the win, the Stags improve to 2-1, while UAlbany falls to 0-3 to start the 2024 campaign.
"We want to put ourselves in the conversation. To put ourselves into the conversation, we have to keep going forward." said Field "We had seen two versions of ourselves, a really bad one, and a really good one. I wanted to see which one was real. Now we've had two really good ones. Momentum is the hardest thing to hold onto, but that's what we're looking for right now." Field continued.
Leading the scoring effort for Fairfield was Elizabeth Talluto with six goals and two assists. Senior Attack Amanda Kozak added two goals and an assist, and Graduate Attack Libby Rowe scored 2 goals and picked up 3 assists. During the second quarter of the game, Libby Rowe scored her second goal of the game to reach the 100 career goal mark.
Maggie Fort, Grace Slater, Brooke Marotti, and Sarah Bucher all added one goal each. Christine Fabrizi and Libby Rowe facilitated the offense with three assists each. Lindsey Barnes also made an impact with seven ground balls on the day. "We needed possession, and that's how we got it" said Laura Fields on Barnes' effort.
Claire Morris earned her second win in the Fairfield cage with six saves.
The Stags jumped out to a 2-0 start, but UAlbany answered back to tie the game at three and four a piece, respectively. After the Stags took a 5-4 lead in the first quarter, they continued to hold the lead throughout the rest of the game. Fairfield led by as many as nine points before a late resurgence from the Great Danes made the final score 15-10.
The 93rd win for Field as head coach makes her the winningest coach in program history, taking the lead over National Lacrosse Hall of Famer Mike Waldvogel.
Katie Pascale and Kloey Roos accounted for five of UAlbany's ten goals, with five others scoring one goal each. Grace Cincebox made eight saves in the cage for the Great Danes.
Up next for the Stags is a road match in Hempstead, N.Y. where the Stags will take on Hofstra on Saturday, Feb. 24 for a 12:00 p.m. matchup. The Pride are 1-1 with a victory over LIU and a loss to #15 Southern California.
