EMMITSBURG, Md. – A lockdown defensive effort and a balanced attack led Fairfield University Women's Lacrosse to a 12-7 win over Iona and the 2025 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship. The Stags earned the ninth MAAC Championship in program history and will advance to the NCAA postseason for the seventh consecutive campaign.
 
"No journey is the same, and this team really fought for this one. We battled through injuries and a difficult non-conference, and we just stuck together and kept finding a way," said Head Coach Laura Field. Field tied former Canisius Head Coach Scott Teeter with her sixth MAAC Championship as a head coach (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025). The 10th-year leader of the Stags was also on the sidelines for two conference crowns as an assistant coach for her predecessor, Mike Waldvogel, in 2009 and 2015.
 
The Stags will move on to the NCAA postseason for the ninth time in program history and the seventh consecutive season. Fairfield brings a record of 11-7 to the national stage.
 
MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Amanda Kozak was named the Championship MVP. She tallied six points in today's final and eight in the Friday semifinal win. On the season, Kozak has now recorded only the 11th 70-point season in Fairfield history with 71 to date.
 
Kozak was joined on the All-Championship Team by Macey Daly, Brynn Donnelly, Katherine Shammas and Grace Slater.
 
In today's game, Kozak had two goals and four assists to pace the attack. Slater netted a hat trick for the second consecutive game, and Kelly Haggerty scored a pair. Tessa Caputo pitched in a goal with two assists, and the Stags got single tallies from Brooke Marotti, Haley Burns, Kit Zanelli and Katelyn Greeley.
 
Donnelly controlled the draw circle to keep Fairfield on the attack. She hauled in nine this afternoon to tie the Fairfield career record with 271 in her career. Donnelly also extended her single-season mark to 146 draw controls this spring. She led Fairfield to a 15-7 advantage on the restart, with Zanelli adding two draw controls to the effort.
 
Defensively, Burns and Delaney Brimhall had three caused turnovers apiece, with Brimhall also nabbing three ground balls. Goalkeeper Kiera Furey picked up six ground balls to go along with her nine saves.
 
Fairfield started the scoring with Slater finishing a pass from Kozak. The Gaels' response came just 68 seconds later, but the marker proved to be Iona's only goal in the opening quarter. The Stags went in front on a Haggerty goal facilitated by Kozak and then took a 3-1 lead to close on the quarter on a goal from Greeley assisted by Caputo.
 
The run continued into the second stanza, sparked by an individual effort and finish for Zanelli followed by the day's second connection from Kozak to Slater. In total, the Fairfield defense held the Gaels off the board for a span of 17:34 before Iona's Jocelyn Smith ended the drought. Neither team struck for the final 5:41 of action as the 5-2 in favor of the Stags held into the break.
 
The intermission did not slow down the Stags' momentum, with Slater completing her hat trick with a goal just 49 seconds into the frame. Kozak and Haggerty then each tacked one on to extend the lead to 8-2. Another Iona drought – this time spanning 12:38 of clock time – came to an end as Gaels' standout Kira Varada got on the board, but the Stags added three more in the period. First, Burns connected on a free-position shot, followed by two goals in the final minute as Kozak banged home an 8-meter attempt and then found Caputo down low with under 10 seconds to play, running the tally to 11-3 heading into the final frame.
 
Much like Siena in the semifinals, Iona did not go quietly as the Gaels ran off for straight to open the fourth-quarter scoring. Marotti delivered the run-stopping goal for the Stags as Fairfield saw out the final minutes of a 12-7 victory and the 2025 MAAC Championship.
 
Iona was led by two goals, two caused turnovers and four ground balls by Varada. Kate Krueger also scored a pair of goals for the Gaels, who were playing in their first-ever MAAC Championship Game.
 
Fairfield will learn its NCAA postseason opponent and destination tonight when the bracket is revealed at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.