After a long offseason, Fairfield women’s lacrosse will take the field this week to kick off their 2025 campaign as they look to defend their back-to-back MAAC Regular Season titles.
It was an impressive spring for the Stags in 2024, as they finished the year ranked No. 23 in the country and earned the first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in both program and conference history. However, that success leaves the team with heightened expectations as the season begins.
“There is naturally some pressure to maintain that standard,” said graduate student Amanda Kozak. “However, we view this pressure as a privilege. We know that we have earned this success and we can use these expectations as motivation.”
Kozak, who plays attack, finished third on the team last year with 33 goals, supplemented by 7 assists. It will be up to her and several other players to continue to step up and fill the void left by departing all-American honorable mentions Elizabeth Talluto and Lindsey Barnes.
Talluto earned MAAC Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2024 for her 56-goal, 27-assist campaign. Barnes was an All-MAAC First Team defender who averaged 3.11 ground balls per game and 1.83 turnovers caused per game.
“It’s no secret we’ve lost a lot of our visible stars,” said head coach Laura Field, “but we still have a lot of really strong players back. The players that are newer to the lineup are not necessarily new overall.”
Field highlighted the returning experience of players like Kozak, attacker Grace Slater ‘25, and midfielder Brynn Donnelly ‘26 to take steps forward in their roles and replace some of that production.
The Stags will also be challenged by a difficult non-conference schedule this season, much like last year. After beginning the slate with rematches against Connecticut and Holy Cross, the latter of whom handed the Stags one of their three losses last year, the team will also go on the road to visit preseason No. 24 Drexel and preseason No. 15 Denver.
Kozak believes that the team being tested early on is a valuable part of their development as a group.
“Our team loves playing a difficult non-conference schedule,” she said. “These games help us grow, prepare us for conference play, and build the confidence that we truly need for the rest of the season.”
That strategy has worked well in previous years. The Stags haven’t lost a regular season MAAC game since April 15, 2023, and they haven’t lost to anyone in the MAAC not named Niagara since 2022.
The Purple Eagles did best them in the MAAC Tournament Championship game last season, which has remained a point of motivation for the Stags all through the offseason.
“Last year, we obviously came up short,” Kozak said, “which is something that pushes our everyday play, as we don’t want to relive that feeling again.”
As the start of the season continues to draw nearer, there is palpable excitement for another chance to take home the MAAC crown and advance in the NCAA Tournament, which Field noted as the ultimate next step for the team after so many years of sustained success and the milestone of getting in as an at-large team last year.
“I don’t want to take [getting an at-large bid] for granted, but the goal is always to advance,” she said. “However we get to the NCAA Tournament, we don’t wanna be just there, and then roll over. I think we set up our end of season now, by how we play.”
With the difficult schedule ahead, the Stags will have chances right away to test their mettle as they try to make history once again.
The women’s lacrosse season officially kicks off at home this Saturday, Feb. 8 against Holy Cross. The match will begin at 1 P.M. on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium. Admission is free for all fans.
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