Hot start in Hartford: The women’s golf team impressed in the opening round of the 2008 Hartford Women’s Invitational. As a team, the Stags shot a team score of 333, only six strokes behind the University of Albany for the lead. The strong showing was led by (class) Courtney Richardson ’09, who shot a first-round 80. Richardson is currently in third place, three strokes behind leader Natalie Desjardins from Long Island University. Richardson’s was far from the only impressive effort on the day. Kristen MacDonald ’11 shot a first-round 83, which places her ninth overall and six shots behind the leader. Alicia Espostio ’10 posted an 84, which situates her in a tie for the twelfth place. As for the rest of the Stags, Christina DeStefano ’11 shot a first-round 86 and sits in 18th place, while Annie Sperandio shot a first-round 93. In the team’s pervious competition, the Stags competed in the Tina Barett Longwood Invitational Tournament in Virginia and finished 11th overall. Richardson and McDonald both shot 170 for two-day totals. At the conclusion of the Hartford tournament, the Stags will stay in Connecticut and travel north to New Haven for another in-state competition. Central Connecticut will host an Invitational tournament over the weekend.
Softball Stumbles in Buffalo: Entering the weekend, the Stags had won seven of eight games and had not lost since March 27th. That trend, however, was erased, as hot hitting and timely pitching by its opponents cost Fairfield a pair of doubleheader games. On Saturday, the Stags dropped a pair to Canisius, losing the first game, 13-5 and the second contest 11-4. In the first game, Fairfield started the game strong, totaling three runs in the top of the first inning thanks to a three-run home run from freshman outfielder Kristina Lingo. The Griffs answered, though, with three runs due to a home run of their own. Canisius held the lead for the remainder of the game. In the afternoon game, the Griffs totaled eight runs in four innings to take a commanding lead.
On Sunday, the difficult weekend continued with two games against Niagara. On this day, though, it was late rallies from the opposition that was the team’s downfall. Jenna DiBernardo ’08 hit a three-run home run to give Fairfield a 3-0 lead, but a fourth inning rally from Canisius cost the Stags the lead. The Purple Eagles went onto win the game, 7-4. In the second contest, yet another DiBernardo home run was erased by two sixth inning home runs for Niagara. The Stags return home on Wednesday to face rival Sacred Heart.
Male Athlete of the Week
ATHLETE: Dave Dudish ’10 SPORT: Baseball ACHIEVEMENT: Third baseman Dave Dudish was at the center of the Stags’ recent hot streak. Dudish hit 6-for-11 against Siena, including five RBIs and four runs scored, as Fairfield took two out of three and moved into a tie for second place in the MAAC standings. Dudish was named MAAC Baseball Player of the Week for his efforts against Siena. Dudish is now hitting .265 on the season., and the Stags have won five of seven games.
Female Athlete of the Week
ATHLETE: Lauren Chatnik ’09 SPORT: Women’s Lacrosse ACHIEVEMENT: It was another week of success for Chatnik and the Stags. Chatnik was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week, her second of the season, following a season-high 14-save effort against Canisius and an 11-save effort against Holy Cross. She totaled 29 saves on the week. Chatnik won three games on the week, stretching her impressive record in net to 11 wins on the season and her save percentage to .518.
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