FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University field hockey will finish up its regular-season slate with a trip to UConn on Friday as the Stags and the nationally-ranked Huskies will meet at 3 pm.
.
UConn enters the match with a number three ranking and a 10-game winning streak which includes four shootout decisions. The Huskies own a 13-1 overall record with a 4-0 Big East mark. The Stags are also in double digits for the win column, checking into this week with a 10-6 overall record and a 5-1 CAA mark. Fairfield has already qualified for the CAA Championship, a four-team tournament that runs November 4-6 in Philadelphia.
The home team has won its last four matches by shutout which gives the program six clean sheets on the season. Goalkeeper Natalie McKenna has received the nod in all of those results which provides her with a 0.69 goals against average which places her third in the nation. Fairfield also has a goalkeeper in the top 10, namely junior
Paige Jackson who brings a 0.95 goals against average into the contest, allowing nine goals in 11 appearances.
In addition to sharing top ten goalkeepers, both Fairfield and UConn feature a double-digit goal scorer in
Kylie Corcoran and Lucy Zich, respectively. Corcoran totals at 10 goals and four assists for 24 points with half of those goals coming from penalty strokes. Zich also has 10 goals but is one assist better with five, giving her 25 points in her 13 appearances.
Fairfield also has a couple of student-athletes on the verge of reaching double figures as well. Rylee La Loup needs one more goal to reach 10 for the first time in her career while
Alice Pifferi looks for another assist to register 10 in third consecutive season. Pifferi already holds the school standard with 29 career assists.
The Huskies also count on the offensive prowess of Olivia McKenna and Charlotte Ritter who have combined for seven goals and 14 assists. McKenna ranks second among her teammates with six goals and six assists for 18 points while Ritter places third on the team with a goal and eight assists for 10 points.
Fairfield will be playing a nationally-ranked team for the fourth time this season, owning a 1-2 mark through the first three meetings. The Stags opened the season with a 2-1 setback against #9 Syracuse University before falling by the same score versus #18 Yale University in game four. Fairfield met #20 Monmouth University on October 23 and came away with a 3-2 victory in overtime.
The CAA Tournament awaits Fairfield next with the semifinals being played at 12 pm and 3 pm Wednesday on the campus of Drexel University. The two semifinal winners will advance to the championship match on Friday, November 6 beginning at 3 pm.
