Fairfield women’s lacrosse extended their win streak to 13 consecutive games as they claimed victory in dominant fashion over a pair of conference foes last week.
The Stags, who have remained as the number 23 team in the country for several weeks, have just two regular season contests left on the schedule before the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship begins on April 28.
Game One
The Stags kicked their week off last Wednesday with a 17-5 win over in-state rival Quinnipiac. Fairfield got off to a great start in the opening quarter, outscoring the Bobcats 5-2, and never really looked back. The team maintained control of possession throughout the contest, boasting a staggering shot margin of 43-14 and going plus 12 on draw controls.
Still, despite the dominant performance, head coach Laura Field noted the continual need for improvement as the season comes to a close.
“It was a good home win,” she said in a postgame press release. “But I do think we want a little bit more. This is the part of the season that we need to start playing our best, and I would have liked to see us play a cleaner game.”
Offensively the Stags were paced by graduate attackman Elizabeth Talluto, who scored four goals while adding one assist. Talluto’s fellow graduate attackman Libby Rowe found the back of the net three times, plus an assist of her own. The four total points helped Rowe become the third Stag ever to surpass 200 career points, behind Talluto and former player Kristen Coleman.
Even with the individual and group success, Talluto largely echoed her coach’s sentiment as the team hits the final stretch of the year, highlighting the need for maintained intensity.
“Going forward, we need to play each game like it’s our last,” she said. “No matter the competition or pressure of the game, sticking to our game plan and playing together is what gives us momentum and success.”
Game Two
That led to the second contest of the week for the Stags, a Saturday afternoon matchup with Manhattan on Senior Day. It was a similar story for the reigning MAAC champs, who began the game on a 9-0 run across the opening two quarters, helping them easily withstand a return 6-0 run from the Jaspers.
A decisive 7-2 second half margin sealed the deal, with a final score of 16-8. Rowe, attackman Kelly Haggerty ‘27 and midfielder Rylee Harrell ‘24 scored two goals each in the half, with Rowe and Harrell both completing hat tricks after finding the net once in the first 30 minutes.
Talluto had yet another great game, finishing three consecutive first half goals for a hat trick of her own and adding three assists.
In all, 13 of the 16 total goals by the Stags were scored by seniors or graduate students, a fitting performance for the Senior Day festivities.
“Getting a win on Senior Day is always huge, because our seniors have done so much for our program and team within the past few years,” said Talluto, who celebrated her original Senior Day last season. “Our team would not be as strong, dynamic, and relentless as we are if we did not have our senior class, so seeing all their hard work pay off in a win was super rewarding.”
The victory brings the Stags to 13-1 on the year, with a perfect 7-0 mark in MAAC play. Since the season opening loss to Holy Cross, the Stags have outscored opponents by an average of 6.8 goals per game. The sustained success has helped the team maintain their spot in the rankings, which they’ve held since breaking through at number 25 back on March 11.
“After our first game, we knew we were better than what we showed on the field and wanted to prove that to ourselves, our coaches, and our competition,” Talluto said. “To be nationally ranked has been our program’s goal. Finally seeing all of our hard work and dedication pay off has been such a rewarding feeling.”
The Stags will now try to continue their stay as a ranked team on Wednesday, April 17, as they visit Rider. Opening faceoff is at 4 P.M.
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