Fairfield defeats Siena women’s lacrosse in MAAC final | The Daily Gazette
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May 9, 2021
Siena s Kaitlyn Dowsett looks to shoot during the MAAC women s lacrosse championship game against Fairfield on Sunday in Fairfield, Conn. (Photo courtesy Siena Athletics)
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Fairfield, and its swarming defense that recovered from a tough start, had other ideas.
Siena was denied its first-ever MAAC championship, as Fairfield again topped the Saints in the league title game at its home Rafferty Stadium in Fairfield, Connecticut. Down three goals minutes into the game, Fairfield rallied back to produce a 12-8 win and secure its third consecutive league championship, and second in a row with a win against the Saints in the final.
Siena women’s lacrosse seeking first MAAC championship | The Daily Gazette
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LOUDONVILLE A couple years ago, the Siena women’s lacrosse program could see the “finish line,” but was unable to reach it.
“Right now,” Siena women’s head coach Abby Rehfuss said Thursday after her team’s semifinal win, “everyone’s just determined to cross it.”
Siena lost 10-9 in overtime in that 2019 MAAC final at Fairfield, and the Saints’ wait for another chance at claiming their first-ever MAAC tournament championship was delayed a season when the 2020 MAAC season and tournament was canceled because of concerns related to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The opportunity, though, is finally here for the Saints when they play at Fairfield in Sunday’s 1 p.m. championship game to win the game that “means everything,” as senior Nicole McNeely put it, to the Saints.
The moment for Matt Chlastawa came before a 6 a.m. practice.
To allow for social distancing, Fairfield players had to stagger time spent in the locker room during fallball. This time, he was with the early group, getting out to the field at Rafferty Stadium well before many others.
“I got out there super early,” he says. “I was playing wallball, and I walked out to the field. The sun was just rising. It was beautiful. Rafferty Stadium is unbelievable.
“There was nothing else I had to do other than be there and compete and have fun. At that moment, there was nothing I would rather do than be where I was.”