EDISON, N.J. – The reigning Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Champions from Fairfield University Women's Lacrosse have been selected atop the 2026 MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Kelly Haggerty was named the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year to headline four Stags earning Preseason All-MAAC honors.
The Stags were the near-unanimous favorite in the preseason poll, garnering 11 of 12 first-place votes for 143 total points. Mount St. Mary's, which shared the regular season title with Fairfield last spring, was picked second. The remaining first-place vote went to Siena as the Saints were tabbed third on the ledger, and 2025 finalist Iona rounded out the top four.
Fairfield was the second seed in the MAAC last spring, sharing the MAAC Regular Season Championship with an 8-1 mark in conference play. The Stags defeated third-seeded Siena and fourth-seeded Iona in the MAAC Championship to earn the crown and advance to their seventh consecutive NCAA postseason. Fairfield fell to #6 Maryland in College Park in the opening round to complete the campaign at 11-8.
Kelly Haggerty was named MAAC Preseason Player of the Year as a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-MAAC Team. Haggerty earned All-MAAC Second Team honors as a sophomore in 2025, scoring a team-high 47 goals – eighth-most in Fairfield history – with 59 total points on attack. In her two-year career to date, Haggerty has tallied 67 goals and 22 assists.
Haggerty was joined by a trio of her teammates on the Preseason All-MAAC Team: midfielder
Haley Burns, defender
Katherine Shammas, and draw specialist
Brynn Donnelly.
Burns filled up the statsheet on her way to All-MAAC Second Team honors last spring. She led the Stags with 28 caused turnovers to go along with 26 ground balls and 34 draw controls. Burns also helped fuel the attack with 21 goals and six assists. The graduate student has appeared in 61 games for the Stags, where she has racked up 57 points, 86 ground balls, 65 caused turnovers, and 55 draw controls.
Shammas had a breakout campaign in 2025, appearing in all 19 games and compiling 30 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers. She was named to the 2025 MAAC All-Championship Team as one of the leaders of a lockdown defensive effort in the Stags' run to the title.
Donnelly rewrote the Fairfield record book at the draw position over the last three years. She enters her senior season holding the program's single-game (18), single-season (149), and career (274) records for draw controls. Donnelly was an All-MAAC First Team and MAAC Championship Team selection in 2025.
Fairfield Women's Lacrosse opens the 2026 season next Saturday, Feb. 7 on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium with a 1 p.m. visit from Rhode Island. Admission is free for all fans to all regular season home games.
