EDISON, N.J. – Fairfield University Women's Lacrosse – the five-time defending champion of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference – has been selected as the preseason favorite for the 2024 campaign. The Stags also garnered three Preseason All-MAAC honorees, as voted upon by the league's 10 head coaches.
Fairfield received nine of 10 first-place votes to secure first-place in the poll. Siena – the runner-up to Fairfield in 2023 – earned the final first-place tally to nab second place. Niagara, Quinnipiac and Mount St. Mary's round out the top half of the ledger. The backend features Canisius, Iona, Manhattan, Marist and Rider, which is making its debut as an NCAA program in 2024.
The Stags are represented by three graduate students on the Preseason All-MAAC Team: attackers
Libby Rowe and
Elizabeth Talluto and defender
Lindsey Barnes.
Rowe was an All-MAAC Second Team honoree in 2023, filling out her statsheet with 37 goals, 27 assists, 20 ground balls and 33 draw controls. On the career charts, she enters her graduate season ranked 11th in program history with 156 points and third all-time with 60 assists.
Also an All-MAAC Second Team selection, Talluto scored a team-best 53 goals last spring and dished out 12 assists. Her 107 career goals slot 14th all-time, 14 shy of cracking the top 10.
Barnes was a
USA Lacrosse All-America Honorable Mention and an All-MAAC First Team pick last spring, starting all 19 games on the vaunted Fairfield backline that ranked seventh nationally with 8.53 goals per game allowed. She posted 38 ground balls, 40 caused turnovers – the fifth-most in a single-season in program history – and scored a goal in 2023. In her career, Barnes ranks 11th with 68 caused turnovers.
Led by Head Coach
Laura Field, Fairfield Women's Lacrosse was 14-5 last season and 7-1 in the MAAC. The Stags won their fifth consecutive MAAC Championship (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023) en route to the seventh NCAA postseason appearance in program history.
The 2024 campaign begins this Saturday, Feb. 10 with a 1 p.m. visit to Holy Cross. The Stags then open the home slate on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium with back-to-back home games against UConn (Feb. 14) and UAlbany (Feb. 17). MAAC play begins in Western New York on March 23 at Niagara.
