The Fairfield University women’s lacrosse team was rewarded for a 3-0 week by sweeping the weekly awards by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).  The Stags have now won 13 weekly awards, and swept the awards for the second time this season.

Junior Lauren Chatnik (Schenectady, N.Y.) earned defensive player of the week accolades for the second time this season.  Sophomore Erin Rigby (Fair Haven, N.J.) was named the offensive player of the week for the second time, while rookie Kristen Coleman (Potomac, Md.) earned rookie of the week honors for the third time, and a weekly award for the seventh consecutive week.  The Stags have had at least one award winner in each of the seven weeks that they have played a game this season.

Chatnik, a Guilderland High School graduate, earned all three wins in net for the Stags on the week.  She made a season-high 14 saves against Canisius on Sunday, including 10 in the second-half, as the Stags did not allow a goal.  For the week she recorded 29 saves, with 11 against Holy Cross, as she posted a .518 save percentage.  She allowed a season-low four goals against the Griffs on Sunday, and finished the week with a goals-against average of 9.00.

Rigby, a graduate of Red Bank Catholic, was the Stags offensive leader on the week, totaling 14 points.  She scored 11 goals on the week, giving her 36 on the season, while dishing out three assists.  In the win at Holy Cross she tallied eight points, touching net six times.  She followed that with a four-point, three-goal, effort against Niagara, and ended the week with a two-goal effort against Canisius.  Rigby added 12 draw controls, three ground balls and a caused turnover in the Stags wins.

Coleman, a Holy Cross High School graduate, put up 11 points in the Stags wins, with nine goals and two assists.  She tallied game winning goals in the victories over Holy Cross and Canisius.  Coleman ended the week with 50 goals this season, surpassing head coach Beth Loffredo’s single-season school record (47, 2003) in the game at Niagara.  She has 68 points this season, the most of any Stags rookie in a single-season, and three points shy of Colleen Cunningham’s program record for points in a season.

The trio has helped lead the Stags to a 13-1 mark overall and 5-0 in MAAC play.  Fairfield is tied with Northwestern for longest win streak this season (13) games, and for total wins on the year.  The Stags have clinched the top-seed in the MAAC Tournament, April 25-27 at Iona College, and will clinch the outright regular season crown with a win over Siena College on Sunday, or a Marist loss to the Saints on Friday.

The Stags close out the regular season with a three-game home stand, which begins on Wednesday, hosting Columbia at 4 p.m. in a non-conference game.  Fairfield will host LeMoyne at 7 p.m. on Friday, and close out the season on Sunday with the Saints.