On Oct. 10, field hockey forward Lucie Vincent ‘27 was named the Northeast Conference Offensive Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week. Additionally, she had a goal featured at number nine on the SportsCenter top 10 countdown. She had two goals and an assist leading to her two NEC awards.
Her goal against Sacred Heart University was featured on Sports Center where she flipped the ball up and tapped it once again over the Sacred Heart goalie’s head and into the net. Vincent leads the Stags in points with six goals and three assists. This gives her an average of 1.4 points per game in her 11 games thus far.
“It’s a real pleasure and an honor to be Rookie of the Week and to be in the SportsCenter Top 10, I didn’t know what it was before but it seems to be a big thing in the U.S.,” she stated. “But we must not forget that it’s only individual awards and without Madison [Milhous ‘25]’s and Dominique [Van Der Zee ‘27]’s great assists, I’d never have scored and never received those awards. So I’m obviously happy and proud of these but I’ll be even happier when we win the important games in our tournament and achieve our collective goals as a team.”
She continued by discussing her transition to Fairfield and how her team has aided her in this transition by saying, “Everything is going really well! I think integrating at Fairfield is easier being part of a team. Even before arriving in the United States, I had received a dozen messages to make sure I was ready and I had everything that I needed.”
She also talks about the support she receives from her upper-class teammates. “Once I arrived, the welcome I received from the upper classes was great, they really want you to feel at home in the team. So now, I know that if there’s a problem I can talk to them about it, or if I need help with something I can always count on them to help me. I’ve really found friends in this team and I’m very grateful and happy to have fallen in with them. This year will be ours!”
After Vincent’s big week, the Stags started a two-game road slate in Staten Island, N.Y. to take on conference opponent Wagner College. Wagner came out swinging against the Stags, dominating possession at the beginning of the game. However, the Stag defensive unit remained strong as they kept Wagner from getting opportunities at the net. Wagner did get a couple of chances off of penalty corners, but the Stags managed to turn those chances into quick outlet passes and transitioned quickly into an offensive attack.
The Stag’s first goal came from forward Van Der Zee, who got the ball about 15 yards from the net and carried it to the right of the circle then took a shot and snuck it past the diving Wagner goalkeeper to give the Stags the lead with two minutes left in the first quarter.
Following the first quarter, the Stags put pressure on the Wagner offense with their very aggressive defensive philosophy. The second and third quarter did not see much offensive action for either team. They went back and forth with neither team being able to finish.
Once the fourth quarter hit, the offenses opened up with Wagner tying it up early in the quarter. However, just a few minutes later the Stags were able to take the lead back. The game-winner came from forward Alex Senior ‘26, giving the Stags the eventual 2-1 victory. They held onto the lead for the remainder of the game and took the game remaining undefeated in the NEC. The Stags were outshot in the game 13 to 10. However, they did get seven shots on goal compared to Wagner’s three. Stags goalie Payton Rahn ‘25 was credited with two saves on the day, whereas Wagner’s goalie got five.
Following their win at Wagner, the Stags traveled to Orono, Maine to take on the University of Maine. The first half saw minimal offensive opportunities for either team, with the possession being passed back and forth between the two teams.
The first quarter saw three total shots taken, two of which were taken by the Stags and neither team was able to score. Both defenses remained stout through the first half, with neither team allowing a goal leading to the teams heading into the break with a 0-0 tie.
The second quarter did not see the game change much as both defenses continued to remain strong. However, the quarter saw more shots at the goalies. Maine had two shots on net early but Rahn was able to turn them aside. The Stags got a couple opportunities as well but were unable to finish on the offensive end.
The score did not break from the 0-0 tie until about halfway through the third quarter, when Maine was able to sneak one past Rahn off a backhand shot. The fourth quarter saw Maine with a multitude of opportunities with Rahn facing three shots in succession and stopping two before the third went wide. However, with just four minutes left in the game, Maine was able to score their second goal. The goal came from a penalty corner and put the game out of reach for the Stags.
While the Stags attempted to put pressure on the offensive end after allowing their second goal, they were unable to convert and saw their six-game win streak come to an end with a 2-0 loss to Maine.
The Stags offense was able to outshoot Maine 12 shots to 10, but Maine managed eight shots on goal with the Stags only getting six. Both goalies had six saves and the Stags had nine penalty corners to Maine’s six. The loss drops the Stags to 10-3 overall but they are still 4-0 in NEC play and are the only remaining NEC team undefeated in conference play according to fairfieldstags.com. The Stags will play an NEC game vs. Rider University on Friday, Oct. 20 followed by another home game against Long Island University at Lessing Field on Sunday, Oct. 22.
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