On Friday, Nov. 3, the Fairfield University field hockey team traveled to Staten Island, N.Y. to take on Wagner College in the Northeast Conference (NEC) semifinal game. The Stags just couldn’t overcome their three-goal deficit through the first three quarters, losing the game and ending their season. The Stags previously played Wagner on Oct. 13, where they won 2-1.
Wagner was able to score early with a flurry of offense. Wagner found the back of the net two times in the first quarter of play on three shots. Their first goal came 10 minutes in off of a penalty corner and a tipped shot. Just three minutes later, they scored on a breakaway to take the commanding 2-0 lead.
The second quarter saw one shot, which came from the Stags but they were not able to score. The teams went into half at 2-0. The third quarter saw Wagner extend their lead to a commanding 3-0 advantage after an opportunity created off a penalty corner.
The Stags only managed three shots through the first three quarters, but they were able to open up the scoring opportunities in the final frame of play. The Stags turned it up, getting seven shots off and scoring one while not allowing Wagner any in the fourth quarter. The only one to find the back of the net came from the Stags’ first penalty corner of the game. Graduate student Frances Mirabile sent the ball into play, which was followed by Carmel Van Dijk ‘24, who passed it onto Augustina Casteluchi ‘25 who sent it past the Wagner goalkeeper giving the Stags their first and only goal of the game.
The Stags kept fighting with multiple offensive opportunities in the final few minutes of play but were unable to finish. Wagner goalie Puck Schenk ended the game with five total saves, with three coming in the last three minutes of play and the Wagener defense was able to block two Fairfield shots.
The Stags ended the game with 10 total shots which doubled Wagner’s shots and had four corners to Wagner’s three. This loss ended the Stags’ season with an overall record of 14-4, ending their regular season undefeated in conference play, going 7-0 before the loss to Wagner in the semi-finals. Lucie Vincent ‘27 led the Stags in points with 30, with her 13 goals and four assists on 55 shots. Following Vincent was Alex Senior ‘26 with 18 points on eight goals and two assists on 37 shots. Goaltender Payton Rahn ‘24 ended with 16 goals allowed and 57 saves giving her a 78.1% save percentage on the year. The Stags outscored their opponents 48-17 on the year and outshot their opponents 241-139.
Leave a Reply