FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University field hockey team will play in its third consecutive conference championship game on Friday when the Stags take on Monmouth University in the CAA Championship. Game time is slated for 3 pm.
Fairfield and Monmouth are well acquainted with one another as the two teams will meet for the 25
th time in their program histories. The Stags hold a slight edge at 14-10 which includes this year's regular-season overtime win in New Jersey. The two teams also played each other three times for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title with the Hawks winning in 2016 (3-2 ot) as well as 2018 (2-1) and the Stags garnering the title in 2017 (2-1). This year's edition will be the first time the two teams meet for the CAA title.
The Stags advanced to this year's championship game based on its 3-1 win over Northeastern University, gaining goals from
Rylee LaLoup,
Kaelyn Fogelson, and
Kylie Corcoran in the match. The Hawks earned their spot in the title match by edging #20 La Salle University with a 2-1 decision. Claire Campen scored both Monmouth goals including the winner in the 49
th minute.
Corcoran padded her team leading total to 12 with her goal on Friday, while LaLoup reached 10 goals on the season, her first double-digit effort in that category. Corcoran and LaLoup are the team's top two scorers with 28 (12 goals, four assists) and 22 points (10 goals, two assists), respectively. Fogelson secured her sixth goal of the season which gives her at least one point in four of her last five contests (two goals, two assists).
Sophomore
Georgia McDade spent the full 60 minutes in the Fairfield's goal, making two saves and yielding one goal during the game. She enters the championship game with a 2.09 goals against average with a .679 save percentage.
Monmouth saw Campen improve on her season statistics with her performance against Drexel, coming into Friday's action with six goals and one assist for 13 points. Milla Frye holds a decisive lead among her teammates with 14 goals and five assists for 33 points while Alicia Vanderlyde places second among her teammates with five goals and four assists for 14 points. Charlie Bowman has spent more than 850 minutes in the Monmouth goals this year, sporting a 1.62 goals against average with a .762 save percentage.
The winner of the CAA championship game will advance to the NCAA Championship via the conference's automatic bid. The NCAA field hockey selection show will broadcast Sunday night at 10 pm on NCAA.com.
