Stags’ fourth straight victory

The Fairfield women’s field hockey team continued their recent hot streak by defeating Saint Joseph’s University 2-1 in a defensive battle on Saturday.

Despite the close score, the Stags were in control for most of the game, as they outshot the Hawks 10-2 in the first half. Fairfield went into halftime up 1-0 on a goal scored by Hillary Fitts ’14 just four minutes into the game.

In the second half, Felicitas Heinen ’15 scored her team leading seventh goal of the season to put the Stags up 2-0.

Meanwhile, solid play by Fairfield’s goal keeper Maddie Sposito ’13 held the Hawks at bay for the most part, allowing the Stags to hold on for the 2-1 victory.

“[It] was a pretty good game. We dominated from the beginning,” said Heinen, who leads the Stags in points (17) and assists (3). “…We know we had the composure, we know we were better, so we just had to put it in the net.”

Head Coach Jackie Kane was pleased with the performance, citing the team’s momentum and opportunities to score as reasons for the good outcomes.

“We’re always happy to have the win, but I think we got a little spoiled with our 4 goal games and we were just expecting [that] this time,” said Kane. “You can never just expect things against St. Joe’s … but we ultimately worked harder and smarter, and won the game.”

Even though Fairfield had 16 penalty corner shots in the game, Saint Joseph’s kept the game close with their physical play.
“It’s hard to beat a team so largely when they’re so physical,” said Fitts. “We just had to maintain our strength against them and possess the ball out wide.”

This is the Stags’ fourth straight victory on the season, improving to 4-2 overall after starting off the year with two straight loses.

They defeated Lehigh 4-2 on Friday, going undefeated over the weekend and boosting their home record to 3-1, which is just two less home wins than their total from last season.

Home dominance is something that the Stags would like to see continue, especially because they are playing on a brand new field this season.

“I’m really happy that they put in a field that is good for our sport. It’s good the primary lines are for field hockey,” said Kane. “We have a little bit of a home field advantage, and I’m not complaining.”

The new field is most importantly better for the athletes’ health, as continuous and repetitive play on the old field was hard on the players’ bodies.

“Our old field was worn so much … we had a lot of shin splints,” Kane said. “This one is a lot more forgiving, so it’s better for the overall health of the kids.”

When asked what the team is expecting from their next road trip, Fitts replied with a smile, “Just keep scoring goals and winning. That’s all I can say.”

Fairfield will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich. to play against St. Louis University at 1 p.m. on Friday. Next, the team will face Michigan, who is ranked 15th in the nation, on Sunday at noon.