Trekking up to familiar territory this past Saturday, Feb. 11 Fairfield faced off against Jesuit foe Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. in their season opener. Despite outshooting the Crusaders 23-20 for the contest, the Stags fell 11-8 to the perennial Patriot League contenders.
After Holy Cross scored the game’s opening goal, Lily Crager ‘19 got the Stags on the board five minutes into the first half. Three minutes later Olivia Russell ‘18 found the back of the net to give Fairfield a 2-1 lead, the last lead the red and white would hold in the game.
The Crusaders would go on to score five unanswered goals to make the game 7-2 with just over six minutes to play in the first frame. Senior Scarlett Sulliman would tally a goal for the Stags seconds before the half to send Fairfield into the break trailing 6-3.
Fairfield looked as though they were inspired coming out of the locker room as the Stags scored to tie the game at six with just under 20 minutes to play. Junior Brenna Connolly, Kathleen Hulseman ‘19 and Crager each scored in Fairfield’s offensive resurgence.
As was the case for the entire afternoon, right when the Stags threatened to take over the game the Crusaders grabbed command of the game once again. Holy Cross scored three-straight goals in the span of three and a half minutes to take a 9-6 lead with 16 minutes on the clock.
Fairfield and Holy Cross would trade goals in the final half of the period as the game would end at 11-8. Seniors Sulliman and Riley Hellstein would tally goals for the Stags in the final minutes of play.
The Stags return to action this afternoon as they welcome in-state rival University of Connecticut to Rafferty Stadium for a 3 p.m. faceoff.
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