Salve Regina University Girls Lacrosse Camp

Laura Field assumed the role of head coach of Fairfield Women’s Lacrosse following the 2015 season. The spring of 2019 is her fourth campaign as head coach and her 11th overall with the Stags.

In three seasons at the helm, Field has led Fairfield to a 34-22 overall record and a 17-7 tally in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). She ranks second all-time in wins in program history behind her predecessor, Mike Waldvogel, and slots third in career win percentage (.618).

Field guided the Stags to the program’s fourth MAAC Championship in 2018, becoming the first team to ever win three MAAC postseason games en route to claiming the conference crown. She also led the Fairfield to the MAAC Championship Semifinals in 2016 and the MAAC Championship Game in 2017.

Field’s seven-year tenure as an assistant, including the role of Associate Head Coach from 2012-15, featured the most successful stretch in program history. The span is highlighted by MAAC Championships and NCAA postseason berths in 2009 and 2015. The 2009 Stags earned the program’s first and only win on the national stage, upending Sacred Heart in the play-in round and nearly defeating a #4 Penn team that went on to reach the Final Four.

Field’s time at Fairfield has also coincided with the program’s two winningest seasons, as well as a program-record 17-game overall winning streak and a stretch of 30 consecutive regular season victories over MAAC foes. Highlighted by their quartet of MAAC Championships, the Stags have reached the semifinal round of the conference postseason in all 10 of Field’s seasons on the sidelines.

Field came to Fairfield after an eight-year stint with the Yale University women’s lacrosse program, including an 11-5 season as interim head coach of the Bulldogs in 2008. That Yale team finished at #17 in the IWLCA national poll. All told, Field helped guide Yale to a final top 20 IWLCA national ranking six times, including a #7 ranking following the 2003 season. That year, Yale posted a 13-3 mark and captured a share of their first Ivy League title since 1980 en route to the NCAA Championship Quarterfinals.

NCAA postseason appearances have been a regular occurrence for Field, who earned four varsity letters as a member of the Princeton University lacrosse program. As the starting goalkeeper for the Tigers, Field led the squad to the 2000 NCAA Championship Game to cap a run of three straight postseason bids. She was a First Team All-Ivy League honoree for Chris Sailer’s squad in 1997.

Kara McHugh has been on the Fairfield U sidelines as an assistant coach since 2017. In her first four campaigns with the program, the Stags have claimed three straight MAAC Championships and Regular Season Championships (neither was awarded in the Covid-shortened 2020 seasons). McHugh gained prior coaching experience with Nor’easter Lacrosse for the past eight years.

McHugh was a three-time All-MAAC honoree at Marist from 2013-16. She earned Second Team laurels in 2014 and capped her career with back-to-back First Team All-MAAC selections as a junior and senior. In the Marist record book, McHugh ranks seventh in goals (99), tied for ninth in assists (42), eighth in points (141), fourth in draw controls (114), and third in caused turnovers (58). She is one of only three players to post over 100 points and 100 draw controls for the Red Foxes.