Fairfield Win First CAA Title In Debut Season, Beat Monmouth 2-1 On Perlov Double

Fairfield didn’t just join the CAA this season. They won it.

The Stags beat Monmouth 2-1 in the CAA final on Friday at Buckley Field in Philadelphia, taking the conference title and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in their very first season in the league. And they did it in about a minute and a quarter.

Camille Perlov scored twice in 75 seconds to turn the final Fairfield’s way, a burst that left Monmouth chasing the game. The Hawks got one back with just under eight minutes left and pushed hard for an equaliser, but Fairfield held on. The Stags are CAA champions.

This is a third straight conference title for Fairfield, who won the NEC crown in 2024 and 2025 before switching leagues. They’d already shown they belonged, sharing the CAA regular-season title at 5-1 and beating Monmouth 3-2 in overtime in the regular-season meeting on 23 October. Friday made it official.

For Monmouth, it’s another near miss, and a painful one. The Hawks reached their fourth straight CAA final and are still waiting for a first CAA title since joining the conference in 2022. They’d beaten Drexel 2-1 in the semi to get here, with Claire Campen scoring twice, and they lost all three of their previous finals by one goal. Friday made it four finals, four one-goal defeats. The margins in this rivalry are tiny, but Fairfield keep finding a way through them.

Fairfield now wait for Sunday night, when the NCAA Selection Show at 10 p.m. ET reveals their opponent and venue for the national tournament. A first CAA title in a debut season is a statement. The Stags will fancy their chances of making some noise in the bracket too.