Back On Track

The women’s lacrosse team is finally back on track after a 15-14 win against conference rival Marist last Saturday.

The win marks the first time in three seasons that the Stags have won their MAAC opening game.

“We all expected Marist to be one of the toughest competitors this season,” said sophomore goaltender Lauren Chatnik. “To win that game and pull it out is definitely going to help us with the rest of our season. It just gets us ready and helps us understand that we can beat anybody.”

Chatnik was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday.

The win advances Fairfield to 4-5 overall and 1-0 in the MAAC. Marist fell to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the MAAC.

The Stags came out strong in the first half.

After the Red Foxes went on top 1-0, the Stags scored four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead.

Strong offense and help on defense attributed to the Stags’ strong start.

“Each game it is pretty apparent that we are getting better and more patient on offense,” said Kylee Martin ’09.

The Stags continued their confident play and ended the half with a 10-6 lead.

Fairfield and Marist went head-to- head at the beginning of the second half, exchanging two goals early.

Senior captain Sarah Masterson ’07 gave the Stags a 13-8 lead with a little over 19:00 left in the game.

But the lead wasn’t enough to hold off the Red Foxes. Marist went on a 3-0 run to close the gap.

Amy Neville ’08 stopped the run with a goal, but back-to-back goals from Marist’s Lindsey Diener made the score 14-13.

“I think we got a little sloppy in our attack transition,” said Head Coach Stacey McCue. “Our defense fell apart a little bit and we weren’t as sharp as we were in the first half. They had some players that if you gave them that inch they took it.”

The game came to a standstill as both teams went scoreless for the next seven minutes.

But with a little less than two minutes remaining, the Stags had an insurance goal from Neville to bring the score to 15-13.

The Red Foxes scored a goal with 29 seconds left, but, the Stags’ defense would not allow another and Fairfield came out with a 15-14 win.

McCue credited the win to the Stags’ strong offensive effort. Mid-field transitions and fast breaks along with waiting for high percentage opportunities all contributed to the win.

But, McCue said, “It was the girls keeping their composure and backing each other up and playing like a team” that also put them on top.

The win was also a record-setting game for both Chatnik and Masterson.

Chatnik finished the game with a career-high 17 saves and was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Masterson came away with two draws, giving her 116 for her career and tying her with Kristina Sullivan on the school’s all-time draws list.

Also standing out for Fairfield was Neville, who scored four goals.

Martin had three goals, and Erin Rigby ’10 and Kristen Ryan ’09 had two goals and one assist apiece.

Despite the win, the Stags have struggled during preseason to put together a consistent 60 minutes. With MAAC season beginning, the need for consistency is becoming more important.

“We need to always play as a team,” said Neville. “I think when we slipped this game in the second half we just didn’t stay as composed and just slipped for a few minutes, which hurt us. We just need to stay more composed as a team.”

“Sometimes we might have just had our heads where they shouldn’t have been,” Chatnik added.

Chatnik said that being able to come back and recover during games is important and the team is only improving as the season continues.

Despite the slip-ups a “win is a win,” McCue said.

The Stags hope to continue their winning streak going into the weekend, when they will play MAAC opponent Iona on Friday.

“They’re a good athletic team and they always come out fighting,” said McCue. “It will definitely be a challenge.”

The game will be the MAAC opener for the Gaels, who are 3-2 overall.