The women's lacrosse team poses for a picture with the MAAC Championship trophy folloiwng a thrilling 19-9 win over Marist on Sunday in New Rochelle. Courtesy of MAAC Sports
Clichés can be an athlete’s best friend and worst enemy. When it comes to preparation, women’s lacrosse embraces them.
‘Respect everyone, fear no one,’ senior midfielder Rebecca White said. ‘That’s what [head coach Mike Waldvogel] always says.’
But when it comes to the team’s emotional, 19-9 victory over Marist, the same team that prematurely ended the Stags’ season a year ago, in this past Saturday’s MAAC Championship game in New Rochelle, you can basically throw cute sayings out the window.
‘We wanted it to be no question,’ White said. ‘We didn’t want it to be a close game. We didn’t want to win by just a couple of goals. We really wanted to make a statement.’
‘Everyone came out so intense, so on top of their game and ready to play,’ she added.
Much like many of the team’s victories this season, the Stags did indeed make a statement in their win over the Red Foxes, which marks the team’s first MAAC Championship since 2001. The Stags stormed out to a 7-0 win in the game’s first 15 minutes.
‘I thought we played great,’ Waldvogel said. ‘We were picking up every ground ball and we won every draw (in the first half). It was pretty much a dominant effort.’
Fittingly, Waldvogel’s senior class was at the forefront of the dominance was the senior class. White scored six goals on the afternoon and nine points in the Stags’ two postseason games, adding to her team-high 61 goals.
Fellow senior Abbey Goodwin added four goals in the victory, which was all the more meaningful given the long, strange journey of a class that has seen the program evolve from’ a 7-10 overall record with three coaching changes to the top of the conference.
‘This win is especially big as seniors and upperclassmen,’ Goodwin said. ‘We knew how we felt after the game last year, and we did not want to feel that way again.’
‘We’ve come a long way the past four years,’ White added.
Fairfield’s ultimate goal however, still lies one win away. The Stags need to defeat Sacred Heart this Saturday to earn a play-in berth in the NCAA Tournament.’ Earlier this season, the Stags downed the Pioneers, 16-11.
‘We’re trying to look at it like a new game,’ Waldvogel said. ‘We’ve improved, (and) they’ve improved. They’re a different team now.’
A victory, however, is very much on the minds of a team looking to make yet another statement.
‘I think we are really excited and really prepared,’ said senior midfielder Alyssa Vecchione.
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