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Fairfield, CT -- Picking right up where it left off in the semifinals, top-seeded Fairfield used its explosive offense and smothering defense to earn its second straight NEC Field Hockey title with a 3-0 victory against No. 3 Wagner on Saturday afternoon.

The win gave the Stags their fourth NEC championship and the first under first-year head coach Laura Gebhart, making them the first team to repeat since Rider’s threepeat from 2010–12. It also secured the veteran squad’s sixth NCAA Tournament appearance, including their fourth representing the NEC.

Late in the first quarter, Fairfield (15-5) struck first off a penalty corner as Alice Pifferi (Newark, DE/Caravel Academy) smacked a rebound into the back of the cage for the early advantage. With just under six minutes left in the second frame, the Stags drew another corner that resulted in a scrum right in front of the cage. Amongst all the madness, Alex Jordon (Owing Mills, MD/Garrison Forrest School) was able to tap it into the goal after Pifferi sent it into the pile.

Through the first 30 minutes, Fairfield allowed the Seahawks to fire off just two shots as the Stags countered with 16 of their own and continued to pepper the Wagner defense with more as the third quarter got started.

At the 35:47 mark, Rylee Laloup (Pottstown, PA/Owen J. Roberts) delivered the game-icing goal after a picture-perfect feed from NEC Tournament MVP Noor Hellemans (Heemstede, The Netherlands/Coornhert Lyceum). On a penalty corner, Hellemans fired the ball right in front of the goal as Laloup tipped the ball in.

Wagner (8-12) would rifle off five shots in the final frame, including its only two shots on target of the game, but Payton Rahn (Orange, CT/Amity) made two saves to complete the shutout. It marked the Stags’ sixth clean sheet of the season.

Sophomore goalie Saar van Dalen (Houten, Netherlands/Cals College Nieuwegein) made eight saves for the Seahawks and was named to the All-Tournament Team for the second straight season.

Catalina Ness (Hamburg, Germany/Gymnasium Christianeum) was also named to the All-Tournament Team in back-to-back seasons after earning MVP honors a year ago. 

Fairfield and Wagner matched up for the third time in the conference tournament and second in the title tilt. The back-to-back NEC champions now hold the advantage in their postseason series with the Seahawks.

The Stags await to hear their name called on the 2025 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship selection show, which will air at 10:00 pm ET on Sunday, November 9 on NCAA.com.

2025 NEC All-Tournament Team
Noor Hellemans, Jr., M/D, FFD (MVP)
Catherine Fitzgerald, Jr., D, FFD
Catalina Ness, Jr., F/M, FFD
Pilar Mengotti, Sr., D, FFD
Julia de Leeuw, Fr., D, WAG
Floortje Leunisse, Jr., M, WAG
Saar van Dalen, So., GK, WAG
Kate Mahmud, Jr., D, RID
Megan Normile, Sr., D, RID
Chloe Butz, Sr., D/M, SFU
Madison Waldspurger, Sr., D, SFU