Fairfield Warde Field Hockey Stars Jessica Deutsch and Stacy DiLeo Announce Their College Choices

Fairfield Warde field hockey stars Jessica Deutsch and Stacy DiLeo announced their college choices Thursday afternoon afternoon during a press conference in the school's library.

Deutsch will continue her field hockey career at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania while DiLeo will attend Rider University in neighboring New Jersey.

“I’m just so happy I found a team where I belong and that I get to play field hockey in college,” said Deutsch, who was named first team all-FCIAC and all-state as the goaltender on a Warde team that reached the FCIAC finals last season. “What’s really important to me is liking the school, liking the coaches and liking the team.” 

The camaraderie Deutsch found at Lafayette was something that she experienced during her four years at Warde and was looking for at the college level. 

“I talked to a lot of coaches and I liked all of them, but the coaches at Lafayette reminded me the most of my high school coach,” she said. 

American, Holy Cross, Stonehill, James Madison and Tufts, among others, were schools that Deutsch was actively perusing before deciding on Lafayette.

As a goalie, Deutsch will likely need to prove herself next season before setting foot on the field. 

“It’s a little easier for the field players because there’s more room to play different positions,” said Deutsch,  who finished her senior season with 197 saves and a save percentage of 91.0.

“You know those schools when you go and visit and you know you fit in,” said DiLeo, who chose Rider instead of staying local at Fairfield University.  “Rider was really the program I wanted to be in.”

After starting all four years at Warde, DiLeo is adamant she’ll be playing next year as a freshman but also knows she’s going to have to work for it. 

“We’ll see in preseason,” DiLeo said. “They’re very competitive and a very good program and I’m just going to have to work really hard.”

DiLeo finished her senior season with 17 goals and also was named first team all-FCIAC and all-state in each of the last two seasons.

In addition, she was a four-year starter in softball, earning all-league and all-state first team honors in that sport as well.   During her junior year she decided to focus on field hockey over softball.

“I just decided that I wanted to play field hockey in college,” DiLeo said.  “I’m just really excited to go and be able to play.”