This weekend, Fairfield University will host the 2004 – 2005 women’s lacrosse MAAC Championship at Lessing Field. The Fairfield’s women’s lacrosse team will be there, but on the same sidelines as their fans, rather than on the field.
The team finished sixth in the MAAC after an overall rough season. With only the top-four teams qualifying for the champsionship, the Stags did not qualify. But the Stags insist there is no extra insult in having the tournament on campus.
“Our team does not have any problems about hosting the MAAC and not being in it. We are all very proud about the way our season went,” said Ashley Chappel ’07, “It is great for the school to have the competition here, and we’re excited to see how it turns out.”
“We are all disappointed about not making it into the tournament whether we are hosting it or not,” said Head Coach Stacey McCue, “The fact that is being held at Fairfield this year would have only made it more convenient for us had we got it in.”
The Stags came into last weekend needing to sweep their two remaining games to have a chance at qualifying. They lost the first game to Manhattan 11-10 on a late Jasper goal in the closing minutes to seal their MAAC fate.
Despite winning their season finale against Iona in dramatic fashion, the Stags finished 2-5 in the MAAC and 5 -7 overall to finish sixth in the eight-team MAAC conference.
“We were a very young team that learned a lot this season,” said McCue, “I believe it was a positive experience despite our record.”
The season was not a total waste however as the young team gained experience for many of their young players and had several individual accomplishments and accolades throughout the season.
Beth Loffredo ’06 was named MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week two weeks straight as well as MAAC Pre-season Player of the Year.
The freshmen on the team won their share of awards as well. Amy Neville won Rookie of the Week and was also named Inside Lacrosse Division-1 Player of the Week.
Kristin Genovese received an award for MAAC Defensive Player of the Week and WomensLacrosse.com awarded Rookie of the Week to Julia Poli.
“Considering we have no seniors and mostly all freshmen on our team, we did very well,” said Chappell. “There was leadership seen from all different class members of all different ages.”
Despite losing seniors last year, this year’s team will essentially remain intact as there are no graduating seniors. In November, the team also signed five freshmen for the upcoming season. The team will have a freshman goalkeeper, three midfielders and one attacker.
“We are very excited moving forward,” said McCue. “We learned a great deal and gained a ton of experience this season that will carry us into successful seasons to come.”
Last season the team lost in the opening round of the MAAC Championship to LeMoyne and finished 3-3 in the MAAC on the regular season.
This weekend’s MAAC Championship begins Friday as top-seeded Manhattan will face fourth-seeded Marist at 4 p.m., followed by second-seed Siena against third-seed Le Moyne.
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