FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University field hockey team will open the 2025 season under first-year Head Coach Laura Gebhart this weekend, beginning with a pair of road games. The Stags will head to Lafayette College on Friday evening before rounding out the trip with a match up against 11^th-ranked Syracuse University on Sunday afternoon.

"The joy of the first week is laying it all out there because we get to put into play what we have been working on in house," Coach Gebhart said. "And the fact that we get to do this against two quality opponents is exciting. You couldn't ask for anything better than to start the season against two tough competitors like Lafayette and Syracuse."

Fairfield returns the nucleus of last year's team that posted a 12-9 overall record, captured the Northeast Conference (NEC) championship, and advanced to the NCAA tournament. The Stags' top four scorers return for the 2025 campaign along with goalkeeper Payton Rahn.

With that much talent returning, the NEC head coaches selected the Stags as the team to beat in the annual preseason poll. The program garnered six of the 10 first-place votes to edge out Wagner College for the top spot.
Konni Hofmann paced the Stags' offense last season with a team co-leading seven goals and five assists for 19 points, placing 10^th in the NEC with seven goals scored and 0.90 points per game as well as ninth for assists with 0.24 per game. Alice Pifferi served as the team's top distributor with a team-best 10 assists which she coupled with her three goals for 16 points.

Pilar Mengotti, an All-Region defender, contributed on both sides of the pitch, helping the defense post five shutouts in 2024. She was also effective on the offensive side of the pitch, scoring five game-winning goals and adding five assists for 15 points. Rylee LaLoup rounds out the top four scorers from last year, netting all 14 of her points off a co-leading seven goals. She placed second on the team with two game-winning goals.

Rahn has been a mainstay in the Fairfield goal for the last few years including the 2024 season. She appeared in 10 games while platooning with graduated goalkeeper Emily Streib last year. Rahn owned an impressive 0.87 goals against average with 30 saves against eight goals allowed (.789 save percentage). She was responsible for two of the team's four shutouts and combined with Streib on another clean sheet.

This quintet along with the returning players and newcomers put together a strong preseason over the last few weeks, setting themselves up for success once again in 2025.

"The team is very eager to get on the pitch and begin play," Coach Gebhart said. "They have been working hard throughout the preseason. This preseason was about firsts including the first time with our coaching staff. We have been figuring out how to run certain things, forming new principles of play, and putting it all together to be successful on the field."

The Fairfield University field hockey team will open the home portion of its schedule next weekend when they host a pair of games at University Field. The Stags will welcome Villanova University on Friday, September 5 before taking on Lehigh University on Sunday, September 7.