Diving in: The swimming and diving teams started their 2007 campaign with a meet against Holy Cross at the RecPlex in Fairfield. The men’s and women’s teams completed a sweep of the Crusaders with each team picking up victories. The men’s side won with a team score of 133-110. The 200m medley relay team of Boris Romanovsky ’10, Chad Pfeifer ’11, Drew Kingman ’08 and Sean McGonigle ’07 set a school record with a time of 1:53.98. Senior Rachel Waldstein and freshman Meg Young led the way for the women. Waldstein won the 50m free and was second in the 100m fly, while Young won both the 200 and 400m free races. On the diving boards, sophomore Taylor Stecko took both events for the men.
Heating up: Junior Molly Byrnes scored the game-winning goal for the Stags in a 1-0 victory over Robert Morris on Sunday. The field hockey team moved to 3-13 on the season with the win, breaking a five-game losing streak that dated back to Sept. 30. Byrnes scored off a penalty corner to pick up her first game-winning goal of the season. Senior goalkeeper Liz Thomas picked up her first shutout of the season with one save. The Stags were forced to clear away three penalty corners in the final minutes of the game as Robert Morris put the pressure on the Fairfield defense, which locked down to secure the victory. The Stags return to action against Quinnipiac College on Oct. 17, before returning to NEC play with a game at New Hampshire on Oct. 20.
Induction day: Fairfield University inducted five new members into the Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday. The five new members are Corrine Carlson ’01 (volleyball), Steve Dogmantis ’01 (football), Trish Elser-Grim ’92 (women’s basketball), Izabella Kotowski ’02 (field hockey) and Spencer Steele ’00 (men’s lacrosse). Carlson helped the Stags to a 36-0 conference record in her four seasons at Fairfield. Dogmantis lead the nation with 11 interceptions in his senior season, earning Division I-AA All-American honors. Elser-Grim blocked 75 shots her junior year, third most in a single season. Kotowski led the Stags to their first ever Patriot League Championship in her senior season and a NCAA Tournament appearance in her senior year. Steele is the all-time leading scorer in school history with 147 goals and is third in points with 210.
Serving for success: The women’s tennis team finished second at the New England Championships on Sunday in Fairfield. Sophomore Dana Postupack won her singles flight and also picked up a doubles title to lead the Stags to the second place finish. Postupack teamed with fellow sophomore Paulina Rys to win the Flight One Doubles title with a victory over Rhode Island’s team in the finals. Rys was also the runner-up in Flight One of singles play. Postupack picked up the Stags’ lone singles victory of the event with a win in Flight Two. Rhode Island was the overall winner of the tournament with 77 points, while Fairfield was second with 58 points. The Stags return to action in the Louisiana-Lafeyette Tournament from Oct. 26-27.
Swinging away at the ECAC: The men’s and women’s golf teams participated in the ECAC Division I Golf Championships over the past two weekends. On Oct. 6-7 the women’s team traveled to Virginia to play in the tournament at the Kiskiack Golf Club. Fairfield finished 13th overall out of 15 teams with an overall score of 671 (+95). The winning school was Harvard with a score of 600 (+24). The Stags’ top finisher was Kristen MacDonald ’11 who finished 25th overall with a score of 158. Sophomore Alicia Esposito ’10 finished in a three-way tie for 40th, with a score of 164.
The men’s team finished in 14th place out of 14 teams in the men’s tournament, which was played last weekend in Charlestown, R.I., at the Shelter Harbor Golf Club. Fairfield shot a combined 627 (+59), while the winner of the tournament, St. Bonaventure, finished with a 596 (+28). Junior R.J. Zielinski was the top finisher for the Stags, tying for 28th overall. Zielinski recorded a 154, while freshman Jeff Bradlky finished close to him with a 156 to tie for 41st overall.
Off to a fighting start: The Fairfield club hockey team started its 2007-2008 season with a 7-2 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas College at the Wonderland of Ice Arena in Bridgeport on Saturday night in front of a large crowd. The Stags were led by junior linemates Brandon Barucci and Rob Voto, who each scored two goals. Voto added two assists as well. Senior co-captain Justin Eisner also tallied a goal, along with juniors Dan Ferrera and Ethan Finley. Senior goalie and assistant captain Bill Dwyer secured his first win of the season, allowing just two goals in 60 minutes of play, while recording 23 saves.
Last year Dwyer finished the season with a 9-6 record and a 3.74 goals against average. The Stags return most of their key players from last season, including Dwyer and Eisner. Also returning is sophomore Will McPherson, who was the MCHC Rookie of the Year, scoring 19 goals and assisting on 17 others in his freshman season. The game was made even more exciting by the crowd, which was rowdy as always and got involved with the opposing team’s fans, forcing the referees to pull the players off the ice until the commotion was settled.
Male Athlete of the Week
ATHLETE: Drew Kingman ’09 SPORT: Men’s swimming ACHIEVEMENT: Kingman was a double winner in the Stags’ opening season meet against Holy Cross on Friday. He won along with the 200m medley relay, breaking the school record with a record of 1:53.98. He also won the 200m IM with a time of 2:17.27, one second off his own school record.
Female Athlete of the Week
ATHLETE: Kelly Oliver ’08 SPORT: Volleyball
ACHIEVEMENT: Oliver led the Stags’ offensive attack in their victory over Marist on Friday night with 14 kills and a .367 hitting average, to go along with five digs. She also set a career-high with 22 kills on Wednesday in Fairfield’s loss to non-conference Hofstra. Oliver leads the Stags with 3.94 kills per game, fourth best in the MAAC.
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