The women’s lacrosse team entered the MAAC Championship game with a national-best 17-game win streak, an undefeated conference record and a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament.
The Stags were coming off an 11-8 win over Iona in the MAAC semifinals, and had beaten their opponent, Marist, 11-10 in overtime earlier in the season.
Unfortunately, the Stags fell one goal short, losing to Marist 10-9 in the championship game.
Fairfield used a fast start to jump out to an 8-4 halftime lead, but it scored only one goal in the second half. Cristin Lucena ’09 scored to bring the Stags within one on a shot with 46 seconds left in the game. The Stags won the ensuing draw, but could not convert.
“I’m not sure what went wrong,” said Head Coach Beth Loffredo. “They [Marist] just played better in the second half.” The game was Fairfield’s third appearance in the conference championship game. It got there under the leadership of Loffredo, who is only two years removed from her own playing career at Fairfield and remains an interim head coach following the resignation of Stacey McCue at the end of last season.
“We haven’t talked about it yet,” said Loffredo. “I think they’re giving me a few days to decompose before we talk.” The loss snaps the Stags 17-game winning streak, the longest such streak in the nation.
During the streak, Fairfield beat teams such as Boston College and LeMoyne, solidifying their position as the team to beat in the MAAC.
Fairfield finishes the season with a 17-2 overall record and a 7-1 conference record. The Stags lost their first game of the season by one goal to No. 16 Yale. From then on, though, the team wouldn’t lose again until the MAAC Championship game. Fairfield’s scoring offense was ranked fourth in the nation, led by freshman Kristen Coleman ’11. Coleman ranked second in the nation in points with 90. She had 46 goals and 22 assists.
Mary Vallely ’08 won the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year award for the second straight season as she finished first in the league with 28 caused turnovers. Coleman won Co-Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year.
Coleman’s 90 points set a Fairfield single-season record, and she was selected for a weekly award for all eight weeks including Offensive Player of the Week three times, Defensive Player of the week once, and Rookie of the Week four times. “They were a huge part of our success,” said Loffredo. “Coleman was just a piece of the puzzle we were missing and made things happen on offense. Vallely, whether we stuck her on our opponents top player or not, she always comes up with ground balls and is an important part of our defense.” The Stags lose four seniors next year and return the majority of the team’s starters and contributors.
The loss of the seniors will affect the defense, but most of the attack returns intact.
The Stags will lose Vallely, Katie Von Hoffmann, Kara Ackerman and Caroline Madrak, all of whom play on the defensive side of the field.
“It’s hard to say at this point [if the Stags will enjoy as much success next year],” said Loffredo. “We’ll see with the a new group of freshman and hope we get the same balance.”
Named to the All-MAAC First Team from Fairfield were: Erin Rigby ’10, Coleman and Vallely. Named to the All-MAAC Second Team were: Abbey Goodwin ’09, Rebecca White ’09, von Hoffmann and Lauren Chatnik ’09.
Fairfield had three players named to the All-MAAC Tournament team: Coleman, Chatnik and Kelly Barnes ’10.
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