FAIRFIELD, Conn. – After last weekend, Head Coach Laura Gebhart challenged the field hockey team to start this weekend's two-game home stand stronger and take more risks especially in the offensive third of the pitch.

Message received.                                               

For the second straight match, the Stags scored early and often including a goal in the opening minute and three overall in the quarter which sent Fairfield to a 5-0 win over Lehigh University. In Friday's match against Villanova, the Stags tallied a pair of goals in the opening six minutes en route to a 5-2 victory.

"We talked a lot about being consistent in all four quarters and starting strong which they did a phenomenal job this weekend," Coach Gebhart said. "And it wasn't just the goal scoring but it was also the ball movement and ball pressure which brought everything together. Now we just need to keep that intensity moving forward."

Intensity might just be the right word for the Stags' play over the last 48 hours. The Stags needed just 43 seconds to put the scoreboard operator to work when Kaelyn Fogelson tracked down a long ball from the defensive third of the pitch. She took two shots at close range, both of which were kicked back to her, before she pushed a third attempt past the goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead.

Fairfield continued to push forward with an unrelenting attack that kept pressure on Lehigh's back line. After a few more shot attempts were kicked away, Courtland Schumacher was able to take her turn in the offensive scheme. She sent a ball to the center of the circle where Alex Senior was waiting in open space. The senior collected the pass and drove a shot into the back of the cage which doubled Fairfield's lead.

Senior Rylee LaLoup closed out the first quarter scoring with her first goal of the campaign, turning a pass from Noor Hellemans into the team's third goal. The assist was just the start of Hellemans day inside the circle.

The defender later turned up in the offensive third during Fairfield's fourth quarter frenzy, as the Stags took six shots in the 15-minute span. Hellemans was responsible for one of those attempts, picking up her first goal by lifting a shot that caught the upper corner of the goal. Kyle Corcoran closed out the scoring with a goal in the 58^th minute, giving Fairfield five different goal scorers in the match.

"It's really great when you have five different goal scorers," Coach Gebhart said. "I really applaud their effort and energy both including those coming off the bench who supplied the same effort and energy."

Goalkeeper Peyton Rahn was not tested often in the game but was on task when called upon by her teammates. She made at least one stop in each of the first three quarters including a three-save effort in the third period. She finished the game with six saves to record the clean sheet.

Fairfield will return to action next weekend with a pair of Ivy League games on the road. The set opens on September 12 when the Stags head to Columbia University for a 3 pm game and concludes on September 14 with a quick trip to Brown University for an afternoon tilt. The team does not return home until October 3 when it hosts Sacred Heart University in a Northeast Conference (NEC) match.