The Fairfield University women's lacrosse team earned all four major postseason awards presented at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Lacrosse League Tournament banquet held Thursday night in New Rochelle, N.Y. Graduate student Renee L'Heureux (Glastonbury, Conn.) was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year, sophomore Chloe Mangan (Sayville, N.Y.) earned the league's Offensive Player of the Year award, freshman Melanie Raso (Farmingdale, N.Y.) was selected the Rookie of the Year and third-year head coach Mike Waldvogel was named Coach of the Year.

Mangan and Raso were joined on the All-MAAC First Team by senior Brittany Bare (Mason, Ohio). The Stag also had three players earn All-MAAC Second Team accolades as senior Katie Mackay (Salem, Conn.) and Amanda Best (Schenectady, N.Y.) joined L'Heureux on the squad.

Fairfield had eight student-athletes recognized for their success in the classroom. Bare, Best, Kelley Brady (Olney, Md.), Kristen Coleman (Silver Spring, Md.), Tara Lynch (Cincinnati, Ohio), Mackay, Caitlin Townsend (Silver Spring, Md.) and Olivia Ziegler (West Islip, N.Y.) were all named to the All-MAAC Academic Team. To be eligible for the MAAC All-Academic Team, a student athlete must complete two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.

L'Heureux started all 16 games for the Stags on defense and finished the regular season with a team-best 18 caused turnovers. She also had 27 ground balls and 26 draw controls on the season. L'Heureux was the backbone of the Fairfield defense which is 19th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 9.19 goals per game this season. That number is even more impressive, 6.83 goals per game, against league foes, as the Stags did not allow a MAAC opponent to reach double digits in scoring.

Mangan enters the postseason second on the Stags with 34 goals, including the game-winning tallies versus Quinnipiac and Manhattan. She totaled 46 points on the season and averaged 3.29 points per game, good for fourth in the conference. Mangan was good on 9-18 free position shots on the year and corralled 32 draw controls, second on the Stags roster.

Raso did a little bit of everything for the Stags this season, including earning a team-best 40 draw controls. She completed the regular season with 45 points, including a team-leading 38 goals. She netted three consecutive game-winning tallies (Marist, Niagara, Canisius) in league play. Raso also picked up 19 ground balls on the year and caused 12 turnovers.

Bare finished the season with a team-best 33 ground balls and netted 15 goals on her way to 23 points. She also corralled 24 draw controls and caused 18 turnovers on the season. Mackay totaled a team-best 49 points as she handed out team-high 20 assists on the year. She was 12-19 in free position chances on the season and scored three game-winning goals. Best netted 23 goals and handed out six assists to rank fifth on the team with 29 points. Best had 20 draw controls and 19 ground balls on her sheet as well.

Waldvogel earns the Coach of the Year award for the second consecutive year and it marks the fourth time that a Stags mentor has been honored by their peers. Under his tutelage over the past four seasons - he served as an assistant during the 2008 campaign - the Stags are 24-0 in regular season MAAC action and have won the regular season title in each of the campaigns. Waldvogel coached players have earned nine MAAC postseason individual awards.

Fairfield posted a 12-4 record in the regular season including its fourth consecutive undefeated (6-0) run through the MAAC regular season. The top-seed in the conference tournament, the Stags will take on fourth-seeded Iona at 2:30 p.m. Friday in the second semifinal game played at Mazzella Field on the Iona campus.

Posted On: 04-28-2011 11:04 AM

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