PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Fairfield University field hockey team advanced to the CAA Championship match on Friday with today's 3-1 win over Northeastern University. The game was played at Buckley Field on the campus of Drexel University.
The Stags never trailed in the game, scoring a goal in three of the four quarters. Fairfield nearly doubled up its opponents in the shot category, outshooting the Huskies by a 9-5 count. The one stat that really seemed to make the difference the penalty corner as the set piece allowed Fairfield to score its first two goals.
The team opened the scoring in the first quarter when Fairfield was awarded its penalty corner of the match. The Stags worked the ball around the circle until
Emily Carney sent the ball toward the far post where
Rylee LaLoup finished the scoring play with a deflection into the corner of the goal.
Fairfield kept pressure on the Huskies defense by piling up more corner opportunities especially in the second quarter. The Stags earned five corners over the 15-minute period which helped them set up six shots, most of which required attention from goalkeeper Miko Price. Fairfield broke through for the second time when
Kaelyn Fogelson was able to redirect a ball sent her way by
Alyse Wanchisen in the 26
th minute to push the lead to 2-0.
The third quarter did not supply any scoring as both teams were able to move the ball through the middle third. Despite that ability, neither team was able to translate that success into any real threat.
The fourth quarter proved to be period that provided the most scoring as both teams were able to push a shot to the back of the cage. Fairfield was the first to pad the scoreboard when the team received a penalty stroke with four minutes remaining in the game.
Kylie Corcoran stepped to the spot and converted the opportunity which increased the Fairfield lead to 3-0. For Corcoran, the penalty stoke goal was her sixth of the season and her 12 goal overall.
The Stags appeared poised to finish the afternoon with a clean sheet but Northeastern was able to make one final advance with just over a minute left. Juana Gonzalez-Peyru was able to slip the ball into the goal with a nifty backhand that brought the score to its final of 3-1.
Price finished the afternoon with three saves, one more than Fairfield goalkeeper
Georgia McDade, who made two stops off the five shots she faced in the match.
"They really grinded it out today and I am so proud of them," Head Coach
Laura Gebhart said. "This was a whole team effort and the team fought hard. They all showed up and put in the hard work."
The Stags will await the winner of Monmouth University and 20
th-ranked Drexel University. The two winners will face each other on Friday afternoon at 3 pm with the winner collecting the CAA's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.
