NEW ROCHELLE, NY – In it's final home game of the regular season, the Iona Lacrosse program (7-8, 2-4 MAAC) was unable to upend the Fairfield Stags (7-7, 4-2). The Gaels outshot the Stags, as well as controlled more draws and caused more turnovers, but were unable to move past the Stags Wednesday at Mazzella Field.
 
Maureen Murphy tallied the first hat-trick of her career and Pamela Giordano and Katelyn Noschese each scored a pair. Jenna Tolzmann scored once on five shots to go along with six draw controls and two caused turnovers. In the process, she became the program leader in minutes played. Kaitlyn Becker scored once on two attempts.
 
On the defensive end, Caleigh Gunn led the team in caused turnovers with five and grabbed three ground balls. Gabriella Di Domizio caused four turnovers, controlled three draws and grabbed four ground balls. In net, Shannon McCaffrey made six stops and collected four ground balls.
 
Murphy was the first to find the back of net, scoring just 46 ticks into the game. The Stags scored the next three over a five-minute span before Noschese notched her 23^rd score of the year to cut the deficit to 3-2. After Fairfield went back up by a pair, Becker scored her 11^th tally off a feed from Tolzmann. A Stags goal was sandwiched between two more Murphy goals as the Gaels tied the game at five with 7:52 left in the half. The Stags connected with two more goals in the remaining 4:35 to take a 7-5 lead into the break.
 
Fairfield began to pull away in the second half, scoring the first two goals over the opening 5:46. Giordano scored with 22:28 remaining but was answered a minute later by Fairfield. The Gaels mounted a rally, starting with another Giordano goal with 20:08 to play. Her 42^nd goal this season tied Kyle Gregory ('12) for the sixth-most goals in program history for a single-season. With 15:01 to play, Tolzmann and Noschese went back-to-back within a minute to bring the Gaels back within one, 10-9. Iona was unable to put one past goalkeeper Paulina DiFatta (11 saves) as Fairfield mounted two more goals to seal the victory.
 
With the conclusion of the season approaching quickly, the Gaels hit the road against Marist and Monmouth. Iona travels to Poughkeepsie on Saturday to take on the Red Foxes at 3:00 PM.