This Week in Sports – Week of Apr. 23

Women’s’ Lacrosse

Eight is great: One way or another, March 24 matchup against No. 17 Dartmouth was destined to be a turning point for the Stags.
As it turns out, the 17-8 loss to the Big Green may have turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Since the defeat, Fairfield has reeled off eight consecutive wins, including six Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) wins. All in all, Fairfield has won 14 games on the year and eleven of its past twelve games.
The Stags travel to New Rochelle, N.Y. and draw Manhattan as its first opponent for this weekend’s MAAC Tournament.

Men’s Tennis

Marist loss mars season’s end: As the wins mounted and the success sustained, it seemed as if the men’s tennis team’s goal of finally dethroning Marist, the perennial top team in the conference, as the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s (MAAC’s) best was very much within reach.
The Stags, however, fell one match short of their ultimate prize, as the Red Foxes topped Fairfield, 5-2, in the MAAC Championship in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., marking the second consecutive year that Marist ended Fairfield’s season in the conference’s final game of the season.
Despite the abrupt conclusion, men’s tennis enjoyed a banner year for the programming, topped by a 15-match winning streak and a conference-best 18-2 record.
Furthermore, sophomore Rob Ferrante and freshman Joe Michalisin, two of the team’s top individual performers this spring, will return next year, making Fairfield an early favorite to contend for the MAAC Championship and, more importantly, make the added leap past Marist next season.

‘

Male Stag-lete of the Week

ATHLETE: Charlie Cipriano ’12
SPORT: Men’s Lacrosse
ACHIEVEMENT: Despite a 12-7 loss to Loyola (Md.) this past Saturday, Cipriano earned his third ECAC Rookie of the Week honors with a season-high 17 save effort.

Female Stag-lete of the Week

ATHLETE: Paulina Rys ’12
SPORT: Women’s Tennis
ACHIEVEMENT: Rys, who was named the Most Outstanding Player in this weekend’s MAAC Tournament, paced Fairfield with a stunning 5-0 record (3-0 in singles) in the tournament.

She said it…

‘[The NCAA Tournament] is a tournament where only 64 teams are selected and there are hundreds of teams. It is a privilege and an honor.” -‘ Junior Paulina Rys on the prospect of playing in a national tournament for the first time.

Game of the Week

Softball @ Sacred Heart
Thurs., Apr. 23; 3:30pm
The Stags look to extend the team’s midseason surge with a win over Fairfield’s crosstown rivals on Thursday afternoon at Pioneer Park. Head coach Julie Brzezinski and the Stags have won four of the team’s last five games and boast a conference-best 8-2 record. Conversely, Sacred Heart swept NEC opponent Monmouth last weekend to pull itself to above .500 in a difficult softball conference.