In the first-ever Fairfield women’s lacrosse game at Rafferty Stadium, the Stags had to play with the snow coming down fairly hard. However, the team was able to beat crosstown foe Sacred Heart. Junior Julieanne Mascera led the way for the Stags recording a hat trick, while three other players scored two goals each.
Fairfield got on the board early with Maeve Quinn ‘16 scoring the first women’s lacrosse goal in Rafferty history, just 50 seconds into the game. Junior Colleen Reynolds and Alex Fehmel ‘17 would follow up with goals of their own shortly after, giving the Stags an early 3-0 lead.
The Stags would let up just one goal for the rest of the half, while scoring another six of their own. They held this momentum for the majority of the game, but especially in the first half. They scored on two out of three free position shots, one by Mascera and one by Fehmel.
Fairfield led in a number of different statistical categories by the end of the first half, including shots (16-4), ground balls (9-3) and draw controls (7-4). Other goals scored in the first half were recorded by Quinn, Reynolds, Mascera and Jenna Fuchs ‘16. Fairfield took a 9-1 lead into halftime.
In the second period, the game was more equal between Fairfield and Sacred Heart, and the snow began to fall even harder. The Stags were only able to score two goals in this half, while the Pioneers recorded one of their own.
The first Fairfield goal was scored early, as the team started out with momentum similar to that of the first half. Senior Jamie Leone scored just a bit over a minute in, making the score 10-1. After this, neither team was able to score for the next 26 minutes, making the pace of play far different. Sacred Heart’s Caitlin Delaney scored with 2:26 to go, and Mascera answered back with her hat trick, securing the goal with 1:08 left. As the clock ran out, the Stags won their first game of the season, and the first game at Rafferty Stadium, at a score of 11-2.
Goalkeeper and Preseason All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference selection Chelsey Sidaras ‘16, played all but five minutes of Saturday’s contest, recording eight saves and allowing just one goal.
Overall, the Stags outshot the Pioneers 26-13, had a 19-13 advantage in ground balls and a 9-6 advantage in draw controls.
The Fairfield women’s lacrosse team will go on to host Rutgers on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 2 p.m.
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