FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Women's Lacrosse broke a 7-7 tie with five fourth-quarter goals to surge past visiting Canisius, 12-9, on Senior Day at Rafferty Stadium.
Tessa Caputo and
Mary Henry each scored twice in the final stanza.
With the win, Fairfield stays unbeaten in the MAAC at 3-0 as a part of an 8-3 overall tally. Canisius drops to 8-3 and now stands at 2-1 in MAAC action.
The Stags held the Griffs to a season-low nine goals. Canisius entered the day ranked third in the nation with 16.8 goals per game and had scored at least 11 markers in each of its 10 previous games, including 18 and 15, respectively, in two prior MAAC wins over Manhattan and Quinnipiac.
"That was an outstanding defensive effort against a team that's been scoring a ton of goals.
Katherine Shammas was excellent today, and
Haley Burns was all over the place making key plays as a midfielder. Credit also to the draw team doing a great job limiting Canisius possessions," said Head Coach
Laura Field. "Offensively, I think we're still looking for something that puts us over the top, but we've continued to score timely goals, get contributions from everybody, and execute when it matters most."
Shammas had three caused turnovers and two ground balls playing down low, while Burns swarmed the Griffs with four caused turnovers, three ground balls and also put home two goals and two assists on the offensive end.
Delaney Brimhall added two ground balls and a caused turnover.
The draw unit earned a 12-10 advantage on the restart, led by six from
Brynn Donnelly.
Lila Berkery cam away with three draw controls alongside her pair of caused turnovers.
Whitney Robinson and
Keira Furey shared the work protecting the Fairfield cage and made four and three saves, respectively.
Offensively, Burns (2g, 2a) and Caputo (3g, 1a) headed the effort with four points apiece.
Kelly Haggerty,
Mary Henry, and
Kit Zanelli each scored twice, with Haggerty also dishing out an assist.
Charlotte Loughlin chipped in a key free position goal in the fourth quarter, and
Katie Bergen had an assist to round out the individual scoring.
Ella Forcucci – the MAAC's leading scorer – entered the day with nine hat tricks in 10 games for the Griffs and was held to two tallies, both from the eight-meter arc. Megan Previdi led the Griffs with two goals and an assist, and Makenna Crouse also scored a pair for Canisius. Isabel Gautreaux made eight saves in goal for the visitors.
Up next, Fairfield makes its lone trek across state lines in the MAAC regular season with a 3 p.m. visit to Rider on Wednesday, April 1. The Broncs fell to 1-11 overall and 0-3 in conference play following a 17-2 loss today at Mount St. Mary's.
