FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After over 40 minutes of back-and-forth lacrosse between #19/25 Fairfield University and visiting Iona on Wednesday on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium, the host Stags surged in front with a 9-0 run and never looked back en route to a 16-6 MAAC victory.
Elizabeth Talluto totaled six points in Fairfield's eighth consecutive win.
The victory moves the Stags to 8-1 on the season and 2-0 in MAAC action. Iona slips to 6-3 on the season with a 1-1 conference tally.
"Iona may be one of the best teams in the MAAC. They're a good, physical team, which is something that we don't always match up well against," said Head Coach
Laura Field. "We did a great job of controlling possession and fighting for draws and 50/50 ground balls. On offense, we kept the ball moving and that led to a lot of assisted goals, which is a focus for us."
Talluto scored five goals to boost her team-leading total to 31 and also handed out an assist.
Libby Rowe netted a hat trick, and the duo of
Maggie Fort and
Amanda Kozak each recorded two goals and one assist.
Rylee Harrell,
Grace Slater,
Kelly Haggerty and
Brooke Marotti each chipped in single goals, with Harrell, Julie Rigolizzo and
Sarah Bucher all adding one assist apiece. In total, 11 different Stags contributed to the scoring.
In the midfield, the Stags held a commanding 19-7 lead on the draw. Working from the dot,
Brynn Donnelly pulled down eight draw controls, while Rowe and Harrell had six and four, respectively, from outside the circle.
Eva Petrone also collected one draw.
Fairfield's stifling defensive effort, which entered the day ranked 15th in the nation with 9.00 goals per game allowed, limited the Gaels to just six tallies. The performance included three caused turnovers for
Macey Daly and two apiece by Fort and Rigolizzo.
Lindsey Barnes came away with four ground balls, and Fort collected three.
Claire Morris earned the win the cage with six saves to post her fourth consecutive game turning away at least half of the opponent's shots on target.
Emily Stewart was the only Iona player with multiple goals as she tallied a pair. Reigning MAAC Midfielder of the Year Kira Varada had a goal, three ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers before being disqualified after picking up her second yellow card with just over four minutes remaining in the third frame.
Up next, the Stags remain home to welcome Canisius to Rafferty Stadium for a noon draw this Saturday, March 30. The Griffs, lost to Siena in overtime this afternoon in Buffalo, are 8-2 on the season and 1-1 in the MAAC.
