Women’s lax have game too

The longer days of sunlight not only mean warmer weather is coming, but that spring sports are ready to get into full swing. The Fairfield women’s lacrosse team began their 2006 season with a loss to Lehigh 14-13 on Feb. 22. But the Stags rebounded with their first regular season win over Villanova; a 13-5 rout on Feb. 25 at Alumni Field.

The Stags were picked to finish sixth in the MAAC pre-season poll out of the eight conference teams. The team has a tough 16-game schedule with their first four non-conference games at home. Head Coach Stacey McCue returns for her third season with the Stags. She is the fourth coach to be in this position since the program started in 1997. She returns 17 of her players from last season, while bringing in 12 new faces. Pre-season all-MAAC candidate Beth Loffredo ’06 returns after a season-ending injury from a year ago which forced her to play and start in only five games last season. Loffredo, by any measurable standard, is one of the most accomplished athletes at Fairfield. In 2004, she received the MAAC Offensive Player of the Year award and she is the first player in Fairfield’s program history to win Rookie of the Year honors. She will look to challenge the school’s all-time points and goals records as she enters the season with 122 points, which is sixth all-time and 99 goals, which is fourth all-time. Loffredo is one of only two seniors on the team along with Katie Voight ’06, and the team is led by experience as well as youth on the field. Sarah Masterson ’07 and Ashley Chappell ’07 were tied as the team’s third leading scorers last season, and they look to make an impact again this season. The Stags are loaded with talented underclassmen ,with 10 sophomores and 11 freshmen playing this year. Amy Neville ’08 and Julia Poli ’08 led teh team in scoring last ytear, with 23 and 19goals, respectively. “We have only two seniors on the team, but a lot of our freshmen who played for us last year are now coming back as sophomores, so we have a lot more experience on the field,” says McCue. The Stags season opener on Feb. 22 against McCue’s alma mater, Lehigh, started off slowly for the Stags as they netted only three goals in the first half of play. But the second half proved to be much better, and the team netted 10 goals and collected 16 groundballs to close the gap. The Stags were led by Loffredo who had four points on three goals and one assist. “We have a lot of depth this year and we have a lot of girls that can score so we try and take advantage of our high percentage opportunities,” McCue says. “I think the first game had a lot of first game jitters, and we got that out of our system and the team got confidence.” The momentum from the second half against Lehigh carried over to their contest against Villanova on Feb. 25. The team scored two goals in the first 45 seconds of play. The Stags went on to score five unanswered goals on three assists from Chappell in 16 minutes after Villanova netted a goal on a free position shot early in the first half. The Stags continued their great offensive play as they scored six more goals in the second half, securing the victory for the second straight year against the Wildcats. The Stags were led by Abbey Goodwin ’09 who netted a career-high four goals and Chappell who had five assists in the game. “[In] the first half of the Lehigh game everyone was nervous, and we realized that in the second half and tried to rally back into the game,” Goodwin said after the game. “This time both halves just clicked for us. The feeds were there and everyone wanted to win this game so bad.”