Friends of Fairfield Athletics

To the Founders and Friends of Fairfield Lacrosse-The 2013 season drew to a close in the ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament with a semi-final loss to Denver by a 10-8 score.  It is hard to believe that the season started with pre season practices in January and the first game in February.   The Stags finished the season with an overall record of 8-7 and a conference record of 4-3.  The Stags were 5-2 at home, 3-4 on the road and 0-1 in neutral field.  This was the fifth consecutive season that the Stags had a winning record and the third season that Fairfield qualified and played in the ECAC Lacrosse League season ending tournament.  If there was a disappointment to this season, it was the Stags did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

The season started but did not start when 3 plus feet of snow hit New England and Eastern Long Island. The Stags were suppose to open the season against Stony Brook but the three attempts to play game did not come off as Stony Brook was buried under the 3 feet of snow and the LIE was closed.  The Stags then opened the season with road game against Bryant University.  The Stags came back and won a tough game by a 8-6 score.  Goal keeper Jack Murphy opened the season in goal and had a great game against Bryant. Jordan Greenfield was the offensive star for the game with his four goal game.  The Stags next played at home against the Midshipmen of Navy.  This game was another close one with the Stags coming back to win the game by a 10-9 score.  Star of the game was Sam Snow with his four goal effort in the fourth period. Sam scored the last three goals of the game in the winning effort. Jack Murphy had a 14 save effort in this game with many big saves in the fourth period.  The Stags next traveled to Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  The Stags suffered a 10-9 loss to the Tarheels.  Fairfield was ahead 7-3 in the third period when the Tarheels score three goals within a span of a minutes.  Many parents told me after the game that the “boys” deserved better. Jack Murphy had 8 ground balls and 14 saves in the game.  This was the game that I named TJ Neubauer “Super Frosh” for his one goal and one assist in the North Carolina game.  Hofstra came to Fairfield for the second home game of the season.  This had to be the Stags low point of the season with Fairfield losing this game by a 9-2 score. Not only did the Stags lose the game but the Fairfield lost its national ranking.

March comes to Fairfield and UMBC is the next to play Fairfield and the Stags rebounded with a 14-9 win. Greenfield had 4 goals and 2 assists to lead the Stags while Snow had three goal and Super Soph Colin McLinden had two goals and 2 assists.  Murphy had 17 saves in this game.  The Stags traveled to New Haven to play Yale in an intrastate contest. It was a beautiful spring day with many Stags alumni in attendance but once again the Stags could solve the Bulldogs jinx against Fairfield.  The Stags had never beaten Yale. Snow lead the Stags with three goals and Tristian Sperry had a goal and four ground balls.  The newest member of the ECAC Lacrosse League the Michigan Wolverines came to Fairfield to play on a cold night under the lights. Jordan Greenfield lead the Stags with three goals and four ground balls. Eric Warden contributed with two goals and three ground balls. Next up was intrastate rival Quinnipiac who came to Fairfield.  Despite the suspension of five seniors due to team rules violations, the Stags won a hard fought 11-10 game.  Greenfield lead the Stags with five goals and one assist and McLinden had two goals and one assist.  Michael Roe in the face off circle had 10 ground balls. Fairfield made the trip to upstate NY to continue its ECAC conference play taking on the Statesmen of Hobart.  The Stags won this game in the fourth period by a 13-10 score. Underclass men lead the Stags with Neubauer getting four goals and Tristian Sperry adding three goals. Concluding games in the month of March, the Stags hosted Bellarmine in an ECAC contest.  Bellarmine beat the Stags by an 8-7 score.  The Stags won every statistical category in this game but the final score.  Sperry paced the Stags with three goals and Drew Federico had two goals and three ground balls. This loss put the Stags in serious trouble in trying to qualify for the ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament.

The page has turned and now it is April-All ECAC Lacrosse League games for the rest of the season and crunch time.  The Stags first task is to travel to Baltimore to play the Defending National Champions, Loyola.  Loyola was too strong for Fairfield this day beating the Stags by a 13-7 score.  Eric Warden had 2 goals and a ground ball, Marshall Johnson got to seven ground balls and Michael Roe won 15 of 22 face offs.  The last home game of the season, the Stags played Air Force Academy on Lessing Field.  Another tough hard fought win by a 9-8 score.  Air Force tied the score at 8-8 with 51 seconds left in the game.  Jordan Greenfield scores the game winner with 33 seconds left in the game.  Greenfield had a monster day in getting 4 goals and 2 ground balls.  Colin McLinden had 3 assists on the day and got to 5 ground balls.  Jack Murphy had 12 saves in the Air Force game.  This was Senior Day and the Stags faithful said good-bye to five seniors, Sam Snow, Marshall Johnson, Gordie Wells, Matt Rubetone, and Dan Niebler.  The Stags got a break when the news that Bellarmine had lost in an ECAC matchup.  This gave the Stags a chance to win a berth in the ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament needing a win in Denver or over Ohio State in the last two games.  The Stags traveled to Colorado to play the newly #1 Nationally ranked, University of Denver.  The Stags came home with an upset victory 10-9 in OT with Sam Snow getting the game winner in the first OT.  This is the second year in a row that Snow has scored the winning goal in OT versus Denver.  Snow had two goals, one assist and three ground balls.  Eric Warden lead the Stags in scoring with 4 goals-all in the second half.  Jack Murphy had 11 saves, one caused turnover and 2 ground balls. The win was the first for the program against the #1 ranked team and secured the Stags entry into the ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament.  The final game of 2013 saw the Stags traveling to Columbus, Ohio to play the Ohio State Buckeyes.  The Stags and Buckeyes were tied to tied at 7-7 entering the fourth period. The Buckeyes then scored 7 straight goals in the fourth quarter. Jordan Greenfield had four goals with a ground ball.  Neubauer had two goals and one assist.  Snow had two goals, one assist and 3 ground balls.  OSU then went on to beat Loyola and Denver in the ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament and entered the NCAA Tournament as the #3 seed.  In a rematch with Denver in the ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament in only 11 days, the Pioneers topped the Stags by a 10-8 score.  The Stags and Pioneers were tied at 7-7 in the fourth quarter when Denver went on a two goal run to take the final lead. Greenfield lead the Stags with three goals, one assist and a caused turnover.  Warden had another big day against Denver with three goals and two ground balls.  Snow concluded his Fairfield career with one goal and three assists.

The Stags scored 134 goals this season off of 525 shots for a .255 shooting percentage and averaged 8.93 goals per game.  Fairfield averaged 35 shots per game.  The Stags scored 67 goals via the assist and 67 unassisted goals. The man up unit scored 17 goals out of 66 chances for  .258 conversion rate.  The team snagged 471 ground balls and had 204 turnovers while causing 98 turnovers for the season.  The face off unit won 152 contests out of 323 chances for a .471 winning percentage.  Fairfield had a .866 clear percentage out of 233 good clears out of 269 chances.  The officials called 44 penalties on the Stags this year or less than 3 flags a game and 36.30 minutes of penalty time in the box.

Fairfield’s best scoring period was the opening session with 38 goals and 35 goals in the fourth quarter,  The second quarter saw the Stags hitting the back of the net 33 times and 27 times in the third quarter.  One OT goal was scored in the first OT period against Denver.

Jordan Greenfield was the Stags leading scorer with 34 goals and 8 assists for a total of 42 points.  Sam Snow finished his senior season with 20 goals and 15 assists for 35 points.  Colin McLinden lead the team in assists with 19 and also scored 10 goals for 29 points.  Tristian Sperry had 22 points with 17 goals and 5 assists.  Eric Warden finished the season with 15 goals and four assists for 19 points.  TJ Neubauer had 14 goals and 2 assists to finish his freshman year with 16 points.  Nick Guida had 11 points with 7 goals being scored and 4 assists.  Both Marshall Johnson and Drew Federico had eight points with Johnson having five goals and three assists while Federico had 4 goals and 4 assists.   Michael Roe finished the year strong in the face off circle winning 121 face offs out of 237 chances for a .511 winning percentage.  Jack Murphy played all 900.56 minutes in goal this year while facing 527 shots.  He allowed 145 goals with a 9.66 goals against average.  He recorded 165 saves with a .532 save percentage.

To say the 2013 season was a disappointment maybe a harsh comment but I know Andy Copelan’s expectations for this team was much higher than a winning season and ECAC Tournament bid.  The program achieved some highs this year-early in the year Fairfield was ranked #13 in the country -I believe this is the highest ranking ever achieved by Fairfield- and the team beat Denver in Denver when they were #1 in the country.  Almost beat UNC in Chapel Hill.  Six teams the Stags played in 2013 qualified for the NCAA Tournament and four of those teams are in the Elite Eight this weekend.  So the strength of schedule was upgraded.  The ECAC got three NCAA Tournament bids this year.  Up from two bids last season for the ECAC.  The future is bright.  Only lose one top scorer for the 2014 season and another strong recruiting class will start in September.  Plans for a new lacrosse stadium are underway and town approvals have been given.  Maybe if I win the Powerball tonight I can get the field named for the the Founders!!!  As we say goodbye to the 2013 season, we need to give a big thank you to the five departing seniors.  In their four years at Fairfield, the Stags had four winning seasons, three ECAC Tournament bids and the best four season win loss mark for the program. THANK YOU-Sam Snow, Marshall Johnson, Gordie Wells,  Matt Rubetone and Dan Niebler.  It has been a great four years and you all have helped push the Fairfield Lacrosse Program to new heights.  Good Luck in your future endeavors.   Roger Yergeau ’73

To the Founders and Friends of Fairfield Lacrosse- The game starts with Jack Murphy in goal for the Stags and Ryan LaPlante starting for the Pioneers in the cage.  Michael Roe and Chase Carraro renew their “friendship” at the face off X.  Carraro takes the first face off and the ground ball is picked up by Denver’s Garet Holst.  The high flying Denver offense gets off to a slow start as the officials give the Pioneers a 30 second shot clock warning at 13:54.  Denver’s Eric Adamson responds with a shot that hits the post.  The rebound is put back by the Pioneers Cameron Flint and he hits the post also.  Adamson gets to the ground ball on the rebound.  At 13:20, Denver’s Taylor Young scores the first goal of the day with an assist from Eric Law.  Carraro is called for a face off violation and the Stags get the ball.  Sophomore Attack Tristian Sperry takes a shot quickly and it sails over the cage.  The Stags retains the ball and work it offense.  At 11:50 Senior Co-Captain Middie Sam Snow takes a shot that is blocked.  Super Frosh TJ Neubauer gets a shot off that goes wide. Super Soph Colin McLinden takes a shot that Denver’s LaPlante saves and he starts the clear.  The officials at 9:18  give the Pioneers another 30 second shot warning.  Denver turns the ball over and Senior D Middie Gordie Wells gets the ground ball and starts the clear.  After working the ball, the Stags have a turnover but Denver turns over the ball right away.  Senior Defender Dan Niebler gets the ground ball and sends the ball into the Stags offensive zone.  Sophomore Middie Drew Federico takes a shot that LaPlante saves.  Sperry gets the ground ball and he gets the ball to Federico who shoots again with LaPlante making the save.  Denver clears and start the offense.  Denver’s Wesley Berg scores unassisted at 6:27 to give Denver a 2-0 lead.  Roe beats Carraro at the X and he gets the ground ball.  Working the ball for about a minute, Snow takes a shot that goes wide.  The officials call a tripping foul on Denver’s Carraro and he is sent off for a minute penalty at 5:31.  The Stags EMO unit goes on the field and they start shooting right away.  Neubauer has a shot that goes wide.  Snow follows up with a shot that goes wide.  The Stags retain the ball.  Neubauer gets off another shot that goes wide.  The officials assess a slashing call on Kyle Herchner for one minute.  The Stags extra man unit returns to the field.  Junior Attack Jordan Greenfield gets off his first shot of the day and he puts it home at 4:37.  A man up goal. Snow gets the assist and cuts the Denver lead to 2-1.  Denver takes it first timeout of the first period after the goal is scored.  Roe wins the face off as the play restarts and he gets to the ground ball.  Coach Copelan now uses his first time out at 4:24.  The Stags start its offense on the restart and take their time.  Greenfield gets his second goal of the day unassisted at 3:36 to tie the game at 2-2.  Roe gets the face off win and he gets to the ground ball.  At 2:32 the Pioneers have a caused turnover and they clear the ball.  The Pioneers offense is being deliberate and at 1:10 Senior Co-Captain Middie Marshall Johnson creates a turnover.  The Stags clear and with 29 ticks left on the clock, Snow takes a shot that is blocked but the Stags retain the ball.  With just three seconds left in the quarter, Snow’s shot is saved by LaPlante.  A wild shot by Denver’s Perfido is saved by Murphy to end the first period.  Game is deadlocked at 2-2.

The Pioneers’ Carraro win this face off and Terry Ellis gets the ground ball to start the second period.  The Pioneers turn the ball over quickly and the Stags clear.  After taking their time on attack, the officials give Fairfield a 30 second shot clock warning at 13:32.  Johnson takes a shot that is blocked. Federico follows up with a wide shot.  At 13:03, Denver’s Drew Babb gets a slashing call and the officials give him a one minute penalty.  Stags extra man unit works the ball and Snow’s shot is saved by LaPlante.  Denver clears and for the next 5 plus minutes both teams have shots and turnovers.  At 7:17, the officials give Denver another 30 second shot warning.  Denver’s Berg takes a high shot.  Denver backs up the ball and Carraro scores an unassisted goal at 6:55 to take a 3-2 lead.  Roe now faces Chace Calkin at the X and Roe wins the draw.  After working the ball for a minute, the Stags have a turnover.  After a short offensive set, the Pioneers call their second timeout of the first half at 5:43. Twenty seconds after the restart, Denver’s Flint scores an unassisted goal at 5:24 to give the Pioneers a 4-2 lead.  Denver’s Carraro returns to the face off circle. Roe wins and gets the ground ball.  The Stags’ Junior Middie Eeic Warden scores at 4:30 with an assist from McLinden to make it a 4-3 game.  Now Carraro gets the face off win and he gets the ground ball. After 45 seconds, Denver’s Berg scores unassisted at 3:49 to push the lead to 5-3.  Carraro wins the face off and he gets the ground ball.  At 3:06 Denver’s Cameron has his shot go high.  After about a minute, Cameron takes another shot that Murphy saves.  Junior Defender Toby Armour gets the ground ball and Denver’s Berg is called for an illegal body check at 2:18.  The Stags extra man unit gets its third chance on the day.  Moving the ball around wheel, Neubauer sends one of his lasar shots into the net with an assist from Snow to cut the lead to 5-4 with 1:53 left in the first half.  Man up goal. Roe wins the face off with Frosh Middie  Conor Barr on the wing gets the ground ball.  Coach Copelan calls his second time out of the half at 1:38.  The Stags restart and Warden takes a shot that LaPlante saves.  The Stags retain the ball but the Pioneers have a caused turnover and clear with 42 seconds left in the half.  With 2 seconds left in the half, Adamson takes a shot that Murphy saves.  On the shot, the Stags’ Wells is called for a cross checking penalty for a one minute penalty.  Half ends with Denver leading the Stage by a 5-4 score.  The second half will start with the Stags a man down and the Pioneers will have possession of the ball.

The Pioneers make the usual change at goal keeper and now Jamie Faus is in the nets. Denver starts the second half with the ball at the X due to the Fairfield penalty. Cameron takes a quick shot that Murphy saves.  Murphy starts the clear.  Stags offense is deliberate.  At 13:33, Snow takes a shot that Faus saves.  Fairfield retain the ball but then Denver has a caused turnover.  Denver now takes it time taking a shot and they turn the ball over at 12:04.  Wells picks up the ground ball and starts the clear.  After working the ball, McLinden takes a wide shot.  Denver’s Faus picks up the ground ball.  The officials call a one minute penalty on the Pioneer’s Carson Connon for cross checking.  The Stags extra man unit now has the ball.  Neubauer takes a quick shot that goes wide.  Sophomore Middie Nick Guida follows up on the rebound and his shot is blocked.  Denver gets the ground ball and clears.  After working the ball for a  minute plus, Carraro takes a shot that Murphy saves.  Murphy clears and Johnson takes a quick shot that Faus saves.  Warden gets the rebound ground ball.  The Stags work the ball around the wheel  and at 8:11 the officials call a 30 second shot warning on the Stags.  Sperry responds quickly and takes a shot that goes high.  Stags get the rebound and pull the ball out.  McLinden has a shot that Faus saves and he clears.  The Pioneers work the ball quickly and Colin Scott takes a shot that Murphy saves.  Junior Defenseman Greg Perraut picks up the ground ball and he clears.  After probing the Pioneers’ defense for a minute, McLinden takes a wide shot at 5:56.  Stags back up the shot and retains the ball.  Junior D Middie Eric Warden has a shot that  Faus saves.  Denver clears. The Pioneers’ Flint sends a shot past Murphy unassisted.  The Pioneers now lead 6-4 with 4:12 left in the quarter. Roe and Carraro meet at the face off circle.  Carraro wins the face and Holst gets the ground ball playing the wing.  Denver is patient on the attack and Cameron takes a shot that Murphy saves.  He starts the clear.  Fairfield works the ball and at 2:27 Greenfield scores with an assist from Snow to close the Denver lead to 6-5.  Roe beats Carraro at the X and Neubauer on the wing gets the ground ball.  The Stags can not cash in and have a turnover.  Ellis from Denver gets the ground ball and starts the clear.  With 20 seconds left in the period, the officials give the Pioneers a 30 second shot warning.  Denver’s Colin Scott takes two wide shots and the period ends.  At the end of three quarters, Denver leads 6-5.

Roe and Carraro start the fourth quarter at the X.  Carraro wins and he gets the ground ball.  Berg takes a quick shot that Murphy saves.  Fairfield’s Frosh Conor Barr gets the ground ball and he starts the clear.  Guida takes a quick shot that goes wide and Federico picks up the ground ball.  Coach Copelan uses his first time out of the second half at 13:55.  Stags restart and Warden takes a shot that goes wide.  Greenfield gets the ground ball and restarts the Stags offense.  At 13:05, Denver’s Terry Ellis is called for a 30 second pushing penalty.  The Stags EMO unit comes back on the field determined to tie the game.  Neubauer’s shot 15 seconds into the penalty is saved by Faus but Greenfield causes Faus to turnover the ball.  McLinden at 11:58 takes a wide shot and Stags back up the shot.  Sperry now shoots wide but the Stags retain the ball.  Warden solves Faus and scores unassisted at 11:38 to tie the game at 6-6. Carraro and Roe face off and Carraro wins.  He gets the ground ball and sets up the Pioneer offense.  Berg scores with Flint getting the assist at 10:50 to give Denver a 7-6 lead.  Fairfield is awarded the ball on a face off violation by Carraro.  The Stags offense works quickly and McLinden passes to Snow for a goal at 10:17 to tie the game at 7-7.  McLinden is a feeding machine.  Roe and Carraro battle again at the X and Carraro wins.  Denver works its offense.  At 9:42, Fairfield’s Armour is called for a one minute cross checking penalty.  Flint takes a wide shot.  Berg follows with a shot that Murphy saves.  Denver’s Adamson gets the rebound and takes a shot right away that goes wide.  The Pioneers retain the ball and Adamson takes another ground ball. Denver’s offense keeps working and at 7:41 Flint scores unassisted to take the a 8-7 lead.  Carraro takes the face off versus Roe.  Fairfield is awarded the ball and Carraro receives an unreleasable one minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  The Stags’ extra man unit comes on the field.  In 20 seconds, Neubaur takes a shot that Faus saves and clears.  Denver kills the rest of the penalty.  Taking their time, the Pioneers score a goal with Adamson hitting the back of the net with an assist from Flint with 5:50 left in the game.  Denver now leads 9-7.  Roe is called for a violation on the face off and the Pioneers get the the ball.  After taking a minute off the clock, Denver has a turnover and the Stags clear.  Working hard to get a goal, McLinden shot hits the post.  McLinden gets his rebound ground ball.  The Stags’ Warden gets an unassisted goal with 3:04 remaining in the game  to cut the Denver lead to 9-8.  It is a critical face off and Carraro beats Roe and the Denver wing Holst gets the ground ball.  With 2 minutes remaining in the game Adamson takes a high shot.   Denver takes a timeout with 1:32 remaining in the game.  Denver takes the restart and 20 seconds later Law scores unassisted with the Stags’ Murphy leaving the net to double the ball at 1:08. Denver now leads 10-8.  Roe beats Carraro and he gets the ground ball.  At 42 seconds, Neubauer has a shot that is blocked.  The ball goes past the midline and Perraut gets the ground ball and sends it back to the offensive zone.  Coach Copelan uses his second time out of the game with 28 seconds left in the game.  On the restart, Neubauer takes a shot that Faus saves.  Greenfield gets the rebound and he shoots.  Faus saves with 11 seconds remaining in the game.  Faus gets the ground ball and he retains the ball to end the game.  Denver 10 Fairfield 8 is the final score and the Stags season comes to an end.

Fairfield out shot the Pioneers by a 43 to 34 margin.  Denver’s keepers were credited with 14 saves and Fairfield had 11 saves.  The Stags won the ground ball battle by a 26 to 19 total.  Both teams did not turn the ball over often with Fairfield having 7 turnovers versus 8 turnovers for the Pioneers.  In the face off war, the Stags won 11 of 21 face offs and the Pioneers getting 10 of 21 face offs.  The Stags completed all their clears going 11 for 11 and Denver completed 11 of 12 clears.   The Stags scored two extra man goals out of eight chances while Denver did not score in their two extra man chances.

Stars of the game: Jordan Greenfield had a three goal hat trick, one ground ball and one caused turnover.  Eric Warden also had a three goal day and two ground balls.  Sam Snow had one goal, three assists, and one ground ball to complete his stellar Fairfield career.  Super Soph Colin McLinden had two assists and three ground balls.  Super Frosh TJ Neubauer had one goal and one assist.  FOGO man Michael Roe battled Denver’s Carraro to a draw winning 11 of 21 face offs and 5 ground balls.  For Denver, Cameron Flint had three goals and two assists.  Wesley Berg also had a hat trick with three goals.  Eric Law had one goal, one assist and one ground ball.  Chase Carraro who plays on the field in addition to doing face off duties had one goal, four ground balls, and won 10 of 21 face offs.  Second half goal keeper Jamie Faus had 8 saves in his 30 minutes of play.

The Stags ended up with a 8-7 overall record for the 2013 season.  Coach Copelan continues his winning season streak as a head coach at Fairfield and his one season at Marist.  I will do a 2013 season recap early next week.  Roger Yergeau ’73

To the Founders and Friends of Fairfield Lacrosse-The ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line starts today at Boswell Field on the campus of Hobart College.  The first game of the tournament features the Fairfield Stags versus the Denver Pioneers at 5 PM.  The Stags come into the contest with the #4 seed. Fairfield has a 8-6 overall record and a 4-3 record in the ECAC.  Denver is the #1 seed in the ECAC Tournament because the beat Loyola head to head.  Denver is currently ranked #4 in the Nike Media Poll and #3 in the USILA Coaches Poll.  They have a 11-3 overall record and a 6-1 record in the ECAC. They shared the regular season title in the ECAC with Loyola.

The ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament is in its third year.  The Stags are 2-0 in semi final action in the ECAC Lacrosse Tournament.  This is the second meeting with Denver in the past 12 days.  The Stags and Pioneers have played 11 times in ECAC and Great  West League play over the last several seasons.  The Stags are 5-6 in the overall series and have a 2-3 record against the Pioneers in the ECAC.  Last season the Stags beat Denver at home by a 9-8 score in OT and 12 days ago beat Denver 10-9 in OT again. In both games, Senior Co-Captain Sam Snow got the game winning goal.

I will not go through the Denver season as my normal practice.  After losing to Fairfield, the Pioneers played the newest member of the ECAC, Michigan. The Wolverines traveled to Denver on Saturday and lost to the Pioneers by a 12-4 score. The Pioneers were lead by Chase Carraro who won 12 of 16 face offs, Cameron Flint who had three goals and one assist and Eric Law who had one goal and a career high four assists.

The Pioneers have scored 177 goals this season off of 521 shot attempts and a 12.64 goals scored per game.  Their opponents have scored 130 goals with 520 shot attempts for a 9.29 goals scored per game average.  Denver is averaging 37.2 shots per game while the opposition is averaging 37.1 shots per game.  The Pioneers have scored 104 goals with an assist and 73 unassisted goals.  Their opponents have scored 69 goals with an assist and 61 unassisted goals.  Denver has scored 19 man up goals out of 53 chances for a .358 conversion rate.  Their opponents have scored 8 goals our of 36 chances for a .222 conversion rate.

The Pioneers have gotten to 412 ground balls this season and the opposition has scooped up 387 gbs.  Denver has 182 turnovers and their opponents have 154 turnovers.  The Pioneers’ defense has had 78 caused turnovers and the opposition has 89 caused turnovers.  Denver’s face off unit has won 180 draws out of 357 attempt for a .504 winning percentage.  The opponents have won 177 face offs out of the 357 attempts for a .496 winning percentage.  The Pioneers have a .936 clearing percentage while their opponents are clearing to a .955 percentage.  The Pioneers have been flagged 40 times this year and their opponents have been penalized 55 times.

The third period has been the Pioneers most productive session with 46 goals.  Denver’s has scored 44 goals in the second and fourth quarters.  In the opening session, the Pioneers have scored 40 times.  In five OT games, the Pioneers have tallied 2 goals in the first OT period and one goal in the second OT period. Their opponents have scored 37 goals in the fourth quarter. In the first period, the opposition has gotten 35 goals. Second quarter the opposition has scored 29 goals and 27 goals in the third period.

Leading the Pioneers in scoring is Eric Law.  He has 30 goals and 29 assists for 59 points.  Wesley Berg has scored 39 goals and 13 assists for 52 points.  Cameron Fint has 28 goals and 8 assists for 36 points.  Eric Anderson has scored 21 goals and 10 assists for 31 points.  In ten games Gordie Koerber has 19 goals and one assist for 20 points.   Scoring eight goals and 11 assists for 19 points in 13 games is the scoring line for Colin Scott. Jeremy Noble has played in six games.  Noble has scored 9 goals and 6 assists for 15 points.  Ryan LaPlante has started 13 games in goal and played 504 minutes.  LaPlante has allowed 80 goals with a 9.52 goals against average. He has been credited with 106 saves with .570 save percentage while facing 315 shots.  Jamie Faus had also played in ten games with one start.  Faus has played 329 minutes and allowed 49 goals while facing 198 shots.  His goals against average is 8.93 while saving 106 shots for a .566 save percentage.

Fairfield has scored 126 goals this year after taking 482 shot attempts for a 9.00 goals per game average and a .261 shot percentage.  The opponents have scored 135 goals with the opposition has taken 493 shot attempts for a 9.64  goals per game average and a.274 shot percentage. Fairfield has taken 34.4 shots per game and the opponents are averaging 35.2 shots per game.  The Stags have gotten 62 goals via an assist and 64 unassisted goals while the opponents have 65 goals via the assist and 70 unassisted goals.  Fairfield have converted 15 extra man goals this season going 15-58 this season for .259 conversion rate while the opponents have scored 12 goals in 38 attempts for a .316 conversion rate.

Fairfield has gotten to 445 ground balls and the opponents have scooped up 446 ground balls.  The Stags have turned the ball over 197 times this year while the opponents are turning the ball over 198 times.  Fairfield’s defense has caused 96 turnovers this season and the opponents have caused the Stags to turn the ball over 119 times.  In the face off circle, Fairfield has won 141 of 302 attempts for a .467 winning percentage and the opponents have been successful 161 times out of 302 chances for a .533  winning percentage.  The Stags have been successful on .860 percentage  of their clears and the opposition has cleared the ball with a .871 percentage. Fairfield has been penalized 42 times this season and the opponents have been flagged 59 times.

The opening stanza has seen Fairfield score 36 times in the 2013 campaign.  The fourth period have been the second most productive period with the Stags hitting the back of the net 32 times.  In the second quarter, the Stags have scored 31 goals. Fairfield’s least productive period had been the third period with 26 goals being scored.  The Stags have one OT goal this season. The opponents best scoring period is the final quarter with 40 goals.  Opponents have scored 32 times in  the  second and third quarter.  The opponents have scored 31 times in the first period.

Leading the Stags in scoring are Jordan Greenfield with 31 goals and 8 assists for 39 points and Sam Snow is second on the team with 19 goals and twelve assists for 31 points.  Super Soph Colin McLinden has ten goals and 17 assists for 27 points. Tristian Sperry now has 22 points with 17 goals and five assists.  Eric Warden has 12 goals and four assists for 16 points.   Super Frosh TJ Neubauer has 13 goals and two assists for 15 points.  Nick Guida has seven goals and four assists.  Drew Federico and Marshall Johnson have eight points. Johnson has scored five goals and three assists while Federico has four goals and four assists.  Jack Murphy has played all 840 plus minutes in goal this year. He has allowed 135 goals for a 9.63 goals against average and getting 154 saves for a .533 save percentage.  Murphy has faced 493 shots so far in this season.

What to expect:  The task at hand for the Stags is to win two straight games to get the ECAC Lacrosse League automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.  According to most lacrosse “experts”, Denver and Loyola are in the NCAA Tournament.  For Fairfield or Ohio State to crash the party, one of the two teams needs to win the ECAC Tournament.  Denver now has lost two straight OT games to the Stags.  Think the Pioneers will be out to beat the Stags who ended their brief time ranked #1.  Stags need to do what they did 12 days ago. Shut down the high flying Denver offense, get the great shot at the right opportunity and the entire team has to play their A PLUS game.  Need big time contributions from EVERYONE! Roe has to beat Carraro at the X, Murphy needs to play out of his mind, Snow needs to lead the offense, Niebler has to get the defense playing tough but no penalties.  If we get any EMO chances, Denver does not get penalized, the Stags have to convert.  Coach Copelan has shown that he is at his best in the big game.  I know this team knows it can and has beaten Denver.  Just hope that the Denver revenge factor does not carry the Pioneers this afternoon.  One game at a time, beat Denver and then get a shot at the Big Dance on Saturday. GO STAGS!!!  Roger Yergeau ’73

To the Friends of Fairfield Lacrosse-The Stags went to Columbus, Ohio to play the Ohio State Buckeyes in an ECAC Lacrosse League game to conclude the regular 2013 season. Despite a four goal effort by Junior Attack Jordan Greenfield and a 7-7 at the end of three quarters, the Stags could not withstand a seven goal run by the Buckeyes in the fourth quarter.  The final score was 14-8 in the favor of Ohio State.

The game starts with Junior FOGO man Michael Roe taking the face off against Trey Wilkes for OSU.  The officials call a violation on Roe and OSU gets the ball.  The Buckeyes take their time and the first shot by Dominique Alexander is blocked.  All American Logan Schuss picks up the ground ball rebound and passes to Jessie King who takes a shot that goes wide.  OSU still has the ball and now Schuss takes a shot that Junior Goal Keeper Jack Murphy saves.  Senior Defender Dan Niebler gets the ground ball and starts the clear at 13:02.  The Stags are on the offense and probes the OSU defense.  Super Frosh TJ Neubauer takes a shot that goes wide.  Fairfield backs up and retains the ball.  After working the offense for a minute, the officials give Fairfield a 30 second shot warning.  Sophomore Attack Tristian Sperry goes the cage and shoots but the shot is saved by OSU’s Keeper Greg Dutton.  Greenfield gets the rebound ground ball and sends a shot at Dutton quickly but the Buckeye’s keeper makes the save.  The clear attempt fails and at 10:06 in the first period OSU turns the ball over.  The Fairfield offense continues to final an opening in the OSU defense.  At 8:51 the officials again give the Stags a 30 second shot clock warning.  Sperry responds by taking a shot that goes wide.  Senior Co-Captain Marshall Johnson gets the ground ball and shoots but his shot goes wide.  The Buckeyes get the ball and start their clear.  At 7:54, OSU’s Turner Evans scores unassisted to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead.  Roe and Wilkes return to the X and Wilkes beat Roe.  The ground ball is scooped up by Michael Italiano but Freshman Middie Conor Barr creates a turnover and he gets the ground ball.  Fairfield is now on the offense and at 6:50, Greenfield puts the Stags on the board for a 1-1 tie.  Senior Co-Captain Attack/Midde Sam Snow gets the assist on the Greenfield goal.  Wilkes and Roe square off and Roe wins his face off of the day.  Roe gets the ground ball and sets up the Stags attack.  Sophomore Middie Drew Federico  takes a shot that Dutton saves.  OSU clears and their offense works the ball.  At 5:13, Schuss scores unassisted to give OSU a 2-1 lead.  Roe and Wilkes face off. Roe wins and wing Bryan Barry gets the ground ball.  Stags take their time on offense and at 3:28, Neubauer ties the game at 2-2 with an unassisted goal.  Roe and Wilkes continue their battle. Roe wins and he gets the ground ball.  Snow takes a shot that goes wide but the OSU clear fails as Dutton has a turnover. Schuss creates a turnover and gets the ground ball.  With 1:18 left in the first period, OSU’s Trombley has a turnover and Niebler gets the ground ball.  He clears and the Stags hold the ball for the final shot of the opening stanza.  With 18 seconds left in the period, the officials call their third 30 second clock warning against Fairfield.  With seven seconds left, Snow gets a shot passed OSU’s Dutton for a 3-2 Fairfield lead. Neubauer gets the credit for the assist.  Period ends with the Stags winning leading 3-2.

Roe and Wilkes start the second quarter with Roe winning the face off and Johnson on the wing wins the ground ball.  There is no scoring in the beginning part of this period but the officials call a slashing penalty on OSU’s Kevin Mack for one minute at 10:13.  The Stags EMO unit is only able to get off one shot by Sophomore Middie Nick Guida that Dutton saves.  At 8:05 remaining in the second period, OSU’s David Planning takes a shot that Murphy saves.  He picks up the ground ball to start a clear but the Stags commit a turnover.  The Buckeyes’ Dominique Alexander gets the ground ball and he takes a shot at 7:40.  He scores to tie the game at 3-3 with Jessie King getting an assist.  Roe and Wilkes battle and this time Wilkes wins the face off.  Wilkes gets to the ground ball.  He passes the ball to Logan Schuss who sends a shot that hits the post.  Twenty five seconds later, Schuss takes another shot  that Murphy saves but OSU retains the ball.  The Buckeyes work the ball for another minute when Dan Wertz’s shot goes high. OSU keeps the ball and at 5:46 Schuss scores unassisted to put OSU in the lead at 4-3.  Roe beats Wilkes at the face off circle and Neubauer gets the ground ball.  Frosh Middie Conor Dalton fires off a shot and OSU’s Dutton makes the save.  Dutton picks up the ground ball and he starts the clear.  OSU moves the ball around quickly and Jessie King scores unassisted with 4:08 remaining in the half.  The Buckeyes now lead 5-3.  Wilkes beats Roe at the X and Wilkes gets the ground ball.  For the next three minutes both teams have a shot and a turnover. With 1:01 left in the half, Junior Middie Eric Warden gets hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct foul and has to sit for a minutes.  The OSU EMO unit gets off a shot with 37 seconds left and Murphy saves.   Johnson picks up the ground ball and he races down the field.  Johnson takes a shot with 24 ticks left in the half but Dutton makes a save.  OSU’s Joe Meuer gets the ground ball and he starts the clear.  With 13 seconds remaining, Schuss takes a shot that is blocked.  Junior D Middie Shawn Honovich gets the ground ball and the period ends with Ohio State in the lead by a 5-3 score.

To start the second half, Roe and Wilkes remain at the face off circle.  Wilkes wins the draw and OSU’s Daius Bowling gets the ground ball pickup.  Bowling starts the clear. OSU carefully works the ball all around.  At 13:44, Carter Brown scores with Schuss getting an assist at 13:44.  OSU now has a 6-3 lead.  Roe wins the next face off and he gets the ground ball.  He passes to  Guida who takes a shot that is saved by Dutton.   Sperry gets the ground ball. Stags work the offense and with 13 minutes remaining in the third quarter Greenfield scores a goal with an assist to Snow.  This cuts the OSU lead to 6-4.  Wilkes now wins this face off and he gets to the ground ball.  At 11:40, Honovich creates a turnover and he gets the ground ball.  He starts the clear and the Stags work the offense.  With 10:36 on the clock, Neubauer gets a goal with Super Soph Colin McLinden getting the assist and cuts the OSU lead to 6-5.  Roe takes the face off and gets the ground ball.  But OSU creates a turnover with Schuss getting the ground ball.  A shot by Wertz gets blocked with OSU’s Brown getting the ground ball.  Niebler creates a turnover at 9:19 and he gets the ground ball.  Niebler starts the clear.  The Stags offense works quickly. Greenfield has a shot saved by Dutton.  Sperry picks up the ground ball, dodges and ties the game at 6-6 unassisted with 8:20 left in the quarter. This time Wilkes gets the face off win and OSU’s Michael Italiano gets the ground ball playing on the wing. OSU works the ball around the crease and 50 seconds later, OSU’s King takes a shot that goes wide.  Buckeyes back up and Planning takes a wide shot.  With 6:14 left in the period, the Stags’ Freshman Middie Conor Barr forces a turnover.  Junior Long Pole Defenseman Toby Armour gets the ground ball and starts the clear.  Taking the time they need, they Stags work the ball. At 5:23 left in the period Greenfield scores again giving the Stags a 7-6 lead at the 5:23 mark of the third goal of the day unassisted.  Roe wins the face off and gets the ground ball.  Fairfield works the ball for 30 seconds when Snow takes a shot that Dutton saves.  OSU clears and they work the ball for the next 90 seconds.  OSU’s Nick Liddil scores with an assist from Adam Trombley at 3:13 to tie the game at 7-7.  Roe beats Wilkes again and gets the ground ball.  The Stags take their time and the officials call a 30 second shot clock warning at 2:04.  Greenfield shoots at 1:48 but his shot goes wide.  The Stags keep the ball but the Stags have a turnover.  Italiano for the Buckeyes gets the ground ball and  starts the clear.  With 13 clicks left in the period, Schuss takes a shot but Murphy makes a save.  Period ends with a 7-7 tie.

Wilkes beats Roe to start the 4th quarter with Italiano playing on the wing gets the ground ball.  OSU’s Planning takes a shot that goes wide but OSU keeps the ball.  The Buckeyes’ Turner Evans takes a high shot.  At 13:45 Planning gets an unassisted goal to put the Buckeyes in the lead by an 8-7 score.  Roe gets the next face off as the officials call a violation on the Buckeyes.  The Stags start shooting to tie the score.  First, Neubaurer sends a shot wide.  Greenfield then takes a wide shot.  Snow takes a shot at 11:24 that is wide. The Stags have a turnover and Dutton gets the ground ball and he starts the clear.  After being on offense for a minute, Wertz pushes the score to 9-7.  Roe this time gets the face of win and the ground ball.  Roe takes a quick shot that is wide.  The Stags have a turnover and Chris Mooney for OSU gets the ground ball.  The clear is good.  Now OSU shoots,  and Alexander gets th first shot off that goes wide.  Next Schuss shoots wide.  Schuss gets the ball and shoots with Murphy making a save.  Evans gets a goal at 8:26 with an assist by Alexander for a 10-7 OSU lead.  Roe gets the face off win and Sophomore Middie Bryan Barry playing on the wing gets the ground ball.   Greenfield takes a quick shot that Dutton saves.  The Stags retain the ball and at 7:32 Snow takes a shot that Dutton saves.  Dutton clears and at 6:10 OSU’s Carter Brown scores with an assist from Turner Evans for a OSU 11-7 lead.  Coach Andy Copelan takes a timeout to stop the OSU momentum.   Wilkes now gets the win at the X with Robby Haus on the wing getting the ground ball.  OSU holds the ball and at 5:00 the officials give the Buckeyes a 30 second shot warning.  Planning for OSU responds with a shot that goes wide.  Just beating the 30 second shot clock warning (the shot must be on the cage), Alexander gets an unassisted goal to push the OSU lead to 12-7.  Wilkes wins the face off and he gets the ground ball.  Junior Defender Greg Perraut causes an OSU to have a turnover.  Johnson gets the ground ball.  At 3:51 the Stags have a caused turnover.  OSU’s Schuss gets the ground ball and he shoots and Murphy saves.  OSU’s Evans gets the ground ball and puts his shot past Murphy for an unassisted goal at 3:40.  OSU now leads by a 13-7 score.  Wilkes beats Roe again with OSU’s Joe Meuer on the wing getting the ground ball.  The Buckeyes clear and take their time on offense.  The officials give the Buckeyes are now given a 30 second shot warning.  Planning gets an unassisted goal with 2:05 left in the game to give OSU a 14-7 lead.  On the goal, OSU’s King gets an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  The Stags now have an extra man opportunity.  Warden takes a shot that Dutton makes a save.  Dutton clears and OSU takes a timeout at 1:04.  The Buckeyes restart and Barr for Fairfield creates a turnover and he gets the ground ball.  With 30 seconds on the clock, Johnson takes a shot that Dutton saves.  Coach Copelan takes his last time out with 22 seconds.  On the restart, Guida passes to Greenfield for his fourth goal of the day.  The score is now 14-8.  Sophomore Middie Louis DiGiacomo now comes to the face off circle along with OSU’s Kacy Kapinos.  DiGiacomo wins the face off and he gets the ground ball.  Game ends with OSU winning 14-8.

OSU outshot the Stags by a slim margin 36 to 35.  The Buckeyes were credited with 15 saves versus 8 saves for the Stags.  Fairfield had the advantage in the ground ball game by a 35 to 28 margin.  The Stags only had 8 turnovers while the Buckeyes had 12 turnovers.  In the face off war, the Stags won the battle by a 13 to 24 margin.  The Stags were successful on 9 of 13 clears while the Buckeyes were 16 for 18 clears.  Both teams did not score with an extra man. Fairfield had two chances and OSU only had one EMO opportunity.

Stars of the Game:  Junior Jordan Greenfield had four goals and ground ball.  Senior Co-Captain Sam Snow had one goal and two assists along with 2 ground balls.  Super Frosh TJ Neubauer had two goals, one assist and two ground balls.  Senior Defender Dan Niebler had four ground balls and two caused turnovers.  Senior Co-Captain Marshall Johnson had five ground balls and Junior FOGO Michael Roe won 12 of 23 face offs and got 7 ground balls.  OSU had many offensive stars.  Turner Evans had three goals, one assist and a ground ball.  Carter Brown had two goals and one ground ball.  Logan Schuss had two goals, one assist and four ground balls.  David Planning had two goals and Dominique Alexander had two goals and four ground balls.  Greg Dutton the OSU goal keeper had 15 saves and four ground balls.

The Stags got to Hobart on Thursday afternoon to play the first game of the ECAC Lacrosse League turnover.  They will play at 5 PM against Denver Pioneers.  Denver has the first seed, Loyola the second seed, OSU is the third seed and the Stags have the fourth seed.  A pregame report will follow.  Roger Yergeau ’73

To the Founders and Friends of Fairfield Lacrosse-The Fairfield Stags conclude their regular season with an ECAC matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday April 27th at 1 PM ET.  The Stags come into the game with a 8-5 overall record and a 4-2 record in ECAC.  The Buckeyes have a 9-3 overall record and 4-2 record in the ECAC.  Currently the Buckeyes are ranked #13/#13 in the Nike and USILA National Polls. The winner of this game will earn the third seed for the ECAC Lacrosse League that starts on May 2nd on the campus of Hobart College.

Ohio State started its season at home against Detroit University and won the game by a 14-8 score.  Ohio State started its road season with a game in Jacksonville, FL against host Jacksonville winning the game 9-6.  Marquette came to Columbus in its debut season and the Buckeyes won this game 18-8.  They went on the road to play a football rival, Penn State.  OSU beat the Nittany Lions by a 10-9 score in OT.  Denver came to Columbus and handed the Buckeyes their first loss of the season by a 10-9 margin.  OSU then traveled to Charlottesville, VA to play Virginia.  The Buckeyes got back on the winning side of the ledger beating Virginia by a 11-10 score.  Staying on the road, they lost to Notre Dame in South Bend by a 9-4 margin.  Their third straight road game took the Buckeyes to Bellarmine for an ECAC contest and OSU went home with a 9-7 victory.  Playing back at home in Columbus, the Buckeyes lost to Loyola 9-4 in their second ECAC game.  Continuing to play ECAC opponents, Hobart lost to OSU in Columbus by a 10-6 score.  Traveling to their arch football rivals in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Buckeyes improved their ECAC conference record beating the Wolverines by a 17-9 score.  Last Saturday, the Buckeyes were also in Colorado, taking on the Air Force Academy.  The teams were tied at 4-4 at the end of the first period.  The Buckeyes jumped out to 2-0 lead with Senior Co-Captain Logan Schuss scoring 50 seconds into the game.  Then the Air Force scored three straight goals to grab a 3-2 lead.  With less than three minutes left in the first period, OSU scored two goals 36 seconds apart to regain the lead at 4-3.  With only 32 seconds left in the initial quarter, Air Force tied the game.  Air Force scored the first goal of the second period but the Buckeyes had a two goal run to get the lead at 6-5.  Air Force ties the game and retook the lead with a man up goal to forge a  7-6 halftime lead.  Ohio State entered the third period with two men down and the Buckeyes killed the penalties and scored all three of the goals scored in the period to have a 9-7 at the break.  Two minutes in the fourth quarter, Air Force scores to cut the lead to 9-8.  OSU scored its final goal at 6:48 to push the lead to two goals.  Air Force was able to cut the lead to one on a goal with 47 seconds remaining the contest.  The Buckeyes win the face off but lose the ball on a turnover.  The Falcons final shot was saved by the OSU goal keeper and the Buckeyes went back to Columbus a winner by a 9-8 score.  In the contest, freshman defenseman Robby Haus earned the ECAC Rookie of the Week honors for his four ground ball effort along with being on the man down unit that killed off a two man down penalty.

The Buckeyes have scored 125 goals this season while taking 413 shot attempts for a 10.42 goals per game average and a .303 shot percentage.  Their opponents have scored 99 goals after taking 372 shot attempts for a .266 shot percentage for a 8.25 goals per game average.  The Buckeyes are averaging 34.4 shots per game and their opponents have averaged 31.0 shots per game.  OSU has scored 78 goals with an assist this season and 47 unassisted goals.  Their opponents have gotten 54 goals with an assist and 45 unassisted goals. With a man up, the Buckeyes have scored 19 goals out of 40 chances for a .475 conversion percentage.  Their opponents have scored 12 goals with 34 chances with a .353 conversion rate.

OSU has gotten to 339 ground balls while the opposition has scooped up 315 ground balls.  The Buckeyes have had 154 turnovers while the opponents have had 159 turnovers.  OSU have 66 caused turnovers and the opposition have had 74 caused turnovers.  In the face off circle, the Buckeyes have won 158 out of 266 face offs for a .594 win percentage.  Their opponents have 108 face off wins out of the 266 chances for a .406 winning percentage. The Buckeyes have a .894 successful clearing percentage while the opposition has a .886 clearing percentage.  OSU hase been flagged by the officials 36 times while the opposition have had 45 penalties called on them by the officials.

OSU best scoring period is the third period with 37 goals.  The second period have seen the Buckeyes scoring 32 times in 2013 and 28 times in the first period.  The Buckeyes lowest scoring period is the fourth period with 27 goals and OSU scored one goal in OT this year.  The opponents best scoring period has been the second period with 33 goals.  The first period has seen the opponents getting 28 goals and 24 goals in the fourth quarter.  The OSU have limited the opponents to 14 goals in the third period.

Leading the OSU in scoring is Logan Schuss.  He has scored 31 goals and has been credited with 20 assists for 51 points this season.  Jessie King and Carter Brown both have scored 19 goals.  King has gotten to 15 assists for a total point total 34.  Brown has a total of 32 points with 13 times being with an assist.  Turner Evans has had 15 goals and 5 assists for 20 points in the 2013 season.  David Planning has scored 11 goals and five assists for 16 points.  Greg Dutton has played the majority of the minutes this season in goal for the Buckeyes.  He has started in 10 games while getting 593 plus minutes.  He has allowed 83 goals for a 8.39 goals against average.  Dutton’s save percentage is .524 with 95 saves this season.  Getting two starts and playing in three games is Scott Spencer.  Spencer has played 130 minutes in the pipes with 24 saves and 16 goals against.  His goals against average is 7.37.

Fairfield has scored 118 goals this year after taking 447 shot attempts for a 9.08 goals per game average and a .264 shot percentage.  The opponents have scored 121 goals with the opposition has taken 457 shot attempts for a 9.31 goals per game average and a.265 shot percentage. Fairfield has taken 34.4 shots per game and the opponents are averaging 35.2 shots per game.  The Stags have gotten 56 goals via an assist and 62 unassisted goals while the opponents have 59 goals via the assist and 62 unassisted goals.  Fairfield have converted 15 extra man goals this season going 15-56 this season for .268 conversion rate while the opponents have scored 12 goals in 37 attempts for a .324 conversion rate.

Fairfield has gotten to 410 ground balls and the opponents have scooped up 418 ground balls.  The Stags have turned the ball over 189 times this year while the opponents are turning the ball over 186 times.  Fairfield’s defense has caused 89 turnovers this season and the opponents have caused the Stags to turn the ball over 115 times.  In the face off circle, Fairfield has won 128 of 278 attempts for a .460 winning percentage and the opponents have been successful 150 times out of 278 chances for a .540  winning percentage.  The Stags have been successful on .869 percentage  of their clears and the opposition has cleared the ball with a .870 percentage. Fairfield has been penalized 41 times this season and the opponents have been flagged 57 times.

The opening stanza has seen Fairfield score 33 times in the 2013 campaign.  The second and fourth periods have been the second most productive periods with the Stags hitting the back of the net 31 times.  Fairfield’s least productive period had been the third period with 22 goals being scored.  After the Denver game, the Stags have one OT goal. The opponents best scoring period is the final quarter with 33 goals.  Opponents have scored 30 times in  the  third quarter.  The opponents have scored 29 times in the first and second periods.

Leading the Stags in scoring are Jordan Greenfield with 27 goals and 8 assists for 35 points and Sam Snow is second on the team with 17 goals and ten assists for 27 points.  Super Soph Colin McLinden has ten goals and fourteen assists for 24 points. Tristian Sperry now has 21 points with 17 goals and four assists.  Eric Warden has 12 goals and four assists for 16 points.   Super Frosh TJ Neubauer has 11 goals and two.  Nick Guida has seven goals and four assists.  Drew Federico and Marshall Johnson have eight points. Johnson has scored five goals and three assists while Federico has four goals and four assists.  Jack Murphy has played all 780 plus minutes in goal this year. He has allowed 121 goals for a 9.30 goals against average and getting 146 saves for a .547 save percentage.  Murphy has faced 457 shots so far in this season.

What to expect:  The Buckeyes and Stags are playing for third place in the seeding of the ECAC Lacrosse Tournament.  Both Loyola and Denver have first and second place secured.  Last year OSU came to Fairfield and beat the Stags in the final game of the season and then lost to the Stags in the opening round of the ECAC Tournament several days later.   Both teams have similar numbers on the offensive and defensive sides with OSU having an edge in the goals against on the defensive side.  Their face off percentages are better than the Stags but Michael Roe has had several good games late this season. Hard to look at comparative scores except for maybe the Air Force game which both teams beating the Falcons by one goal.  My guess is that the teams will play a close one or two goal game.  Does OSU have the revenge factor working for it?  Think both teams will want to play well and get a win to have momentum for the ECAC Tournament next weekend.  Will be a fun game to watch.  Roger Yergeau ’73

To the Founders and Friends of Fairfield Lacrosse-The Fairfield Stags traveled to the University of Denver to take on the #1 ranked team in the country on Saturday April 20, 2013. The game was played before a sold out crowd of 2,500 diehard lacrosse fans at the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.  Fairfield came home with upset win by a 10-9 score.  The game winner coming in OT and scored by Co-Captain Sam Snow 56 seconds into OT.  This win now qualifies the Stags for the ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament starting on May 2nd at Hobart College.  Fairfield now has a 8-5 overall record and 4-2 in ECAC Lacrosse League play.  Denver is the highest ranked team the Stags have ever beaten in lacrosse.  Denver falls to 10-3 overall and 5-1 in ECAC play.  After the game, Coach Andy Copelan commented- “We’re thrilled with the win,” said Fairfield head coach Andy Copelan. “Anytime you can get a one-goal win, that’s a great feeling. Anytime you can get a one-goal win against the number one team in the country, that’s also a great feeling. I’m just really proud of a gutsy effort from our guys. Things didn’t come easy today; there were ebbs and flows throughout the game.”  Denver’s Coach Bill Tierney made the following post game comments-“You could see it happening; you could see it during the [last] week,” Tierney said. “It was not a cocky thing, not a we’re-number-one thing, just a lack of focus on defense. It’s very frustrating for so many reasons – mostly because our seniors have done such a great job this year, but they let us down today. We had no leadership out there.

“Credit to Fairfield; they played hard. With us jumping on them the way we did early on, I thought we really had a chance, but their goalie started making saves, and our shooters started getting selfish. We’re not No. 1 anymore, I can tell you that.” Talk about throwing your team under the bus!!!

The game starts with Jack Murphy in goal for the Stags and Ryan LaPlante in goal for the Pioneers.  Michael Roe squares off against Chase Carraro in the face off circle to start the game.  Carraro wins the face off and gets to the ground ball.  He takes a shot that hits the post.  The rebound is picked up by Colin Scott and he puts a shot home for a 1-0 Denver lead 7 seconds into the game.  Roe and Carraro go back to the X.  The officials call a violation on Carraro.  It is Fairfield’s ball.  The Stags offense takes the ball downfield and works the ball around.  Co-Captain Senior Attack Sam Snow take the initial Stags shot and it is wide at 14:07.  Stags back up the shot and retain the ball.  Being patient, the Stags next shot comes at 13:10 when Freshman Middie Conor Dalton shot is saved by LaPlante.  The loose ground ball goes to Denver and they start their clear.  A couple of ground balls are quickly picked up by the Pioneers while they are working their attack.  At 11:53, Denver’s Wesley Berg scores to give them a 2-0 lead with an assist being credited to Taylor Young.  Carraro beats Roe again in the face off and for the next 10 plus minutes, both teams take shots and have turnovers.  The Stags have control of the ball with 2:30 left in the first quarter and Dalton’s shot is saved by LaPlante.  The rebound ground ball is picked up by Sophomore Attack Tristian Sperry.  Sperry resets the offense and Snow’s shot at 1:56 is saved by LaPlante.   The loose ground ball is scooped by by Junior Attack Jordan Greenfield and gets the Stags offense back in motion.  Denver creates a caused turnover at 1:28 remaining in the period.  Denver clears the ball downfield.  The offense finds Eric Law who pushes a shot past Murphy for a 3-0 Pioneers lead.  Carraro is dominating Roe and he gets the face off win.  Carraro picks up the ground ball. With 17 seconds left in the period, Carraro’s shot hits the post.  The Stags defense creates two ground ball and last second shot by Carraro hits the post.  Period ends with Denver leading 3-0.

Roe beats Carraro in the face off circle and the Stags offense is ready to starting shooting as it sets up its attack.  Super Soph Colin McLinden takes a shot 38 seconds into the second period and scores unassisted to cut the Denver lead to 3-1.  Roe again wins the face off and the ground ball is picked up Sophomore Middie Brian Barry.  He gets the attack in motion.  Snow shoots but his shot is wide. Junior Middie Eric Warden takes a shot that hits the post!  The rebound goes to Denver and with a couple of quick passes downfield Colin Scott scores for Denver.  Terry Ellis gets the assist and now the Pioneers lead 4-1.  A goal like this could deflate many teams!  Roe and Carraro face off again.  Carraro wins and gets the ground ball to his wing Teddy MacKenzie.  The Pioneers control the  ball for the next minute and finally takes a shot that Murphy saves.  He starts the clear and now Fairfield controls the ball for the next minute plus.  At 10:15, Warden sends a shot wide but Fairfield retains possession.  Super Frosh TJ Neubauer sends one of his cannon shots past LaPlante at 9:42 unassisted and cuts the Pioneer lead in half to 4-2.  Roe beats Carraro and Senior Co-Captian Middie Marshall Johnson playing on the wing gets the ground ball.  The Stags offense is no rush trying to find the right chance to score again.  With 8:37 showing on the clock, Warden’s shot goes wide.  Twelve seconds later, Denver’s Scott causes a Fairfield turnover. The Pioneers strick quickly.  Law scores his second goal of the day with an assist from Wesley Berg.  This pushes the Denver lead to 5-2 with 8:20 remaining in the period.  Roe is starting to figure out Carraro and wins the face off.  Roe gets the ground ball and sets up the Stags’ attack.  Warden again shoots after the Stags were in their offense 50 seconds later but the shot goes wide.  The Stags get the rebound but Denver creates a turnover.  The Pioneers clear and quickly Law takes a shot that Murphy saves.  Coach Copelan uses his first time out of the half at 6:21.  What ever he said in this timeout, it fires up the Stags and they come out on fire with the attack in hyper drive!!!  The Fairfield offense restarts.  McLinden feeds Warden who connects on his first goal of the day.  With 6:02 left in the half, Denver leads now 5-3.  Roe is now facing Chance Calkin at the X.  Although Calkin wins the draw, Fairfield’s Johnson on the wing alertly gets the ground ball and he starts the offensive set. Sperry now dodges past the Denver defense and scores to cut the Denver lead to 5-4 unassisted with 5:22 still on the clock. Carraro comes back out the face off circle to face Roe and Carraro is called for a violation.  Since this is his second violation of the half, he receives a 30 second penalty.  This is a new rule implemented this season by the NCAA to stop cheating at the X.  First time I recall seeing this penalty called in a Stags game this season.  The man up unit for Fairfield comes out on the field.  They waste no time as Snow takes a fast shot that hits the post!  Neubaurer gets the rebound and settles down the extra man effort.  With 10 seconds remaining in the penalty, Snow sends a shot home and now the game is tied at 5-5 with 4:39 still left to play in the first half.  Roe and Carraro face off again with Carraro taking this battle.  Denver’s attack works to find a shot but after more than a minute they have a turnover.  Fairfield clears and the Stags attack is now looking for the tie breaking goal.  However, Denver creates a turnover and they clear with 2:05 left in the first half.  The Pioneers are content to hold the ball and look to take a good shot.  With 39 seconds left, the Pioneer’s Berg takes a shot that is blocked by the defense and Murphy comes out to get the ground ball.  Murphy clears and with 22 seconds left in the half, Coach Copelan calls his second time out of the half to set up the final shot of the half.  The Stags restart and with one second remaining in the half, Junior Attack Alex Cramer gets his third goal of the season with Snow getting the assist.  The half ends with the Stags now in the lead 6-5.  Inside Lacrosse reporter writes-”After a Denver-dominated first quarter, Fairfield stormed the field with a vengeance in the second period, posting six goals to Denver’s two and gaining the lead with one second remaining to leave the Pioneers trailing 5-6 at half. Denver fans began to fret, and the Fairfield crowd grew increasingly louder.”  Love it!!!  This has to be the Stags best offensive output in a quarter in the 2013 season.

The second half starts with Denver changing goal keepers.  Jamie Faust is now in the nets.  According to Inside Lacrosse, Denver has been making this change for the past several games.  Roe and Carraro resume there battle at the face off circle.  Roe is called for a violation and Denver gets the ball.  Denver sets up the offense and works the ball around the zone.  The Pioneers score the first goal of the second half by Wesley Berg with Law getting an assist at 13:57 to tie the game at 6-6.  Carraro and Roe return to the X and Carraro wins the draw.  The ground ball is picked up by the wing Garrett Holst.  Denver offense sets up the Stags’ Freshman Long Stick Middie Conor Barr creates a turnover and the Stags clear.  After about 30 seconds being on attack, the Stags have a forced turnover and Denver clears.  The Pioneers work the offense for the next 45 seconds.  Denver’s Cameron Flint scores a goal with assist from Law at 11:32 of the third period.  Denver now leads by a 7-6 score.  Roe and Carraro continue the battle at the X with Carraro getting the win with his wing Jack Pruitt getting the ground ball.  For the next seven minutes, the teams trade offensive opportunities with neither team scoring.  At 4:51 Denver takes a shot that Murphy saves.  The Pioneers pick up the rebound ground ball but then turn the ball over.  The Stags clear and the offense works to get a good shot.  Warden scores his second goal of the day with Greenfield getting an assist to tie the score at 7-7 with 3:50 remaining in the third quarter.  Roe now beats Carraro and sets up the offense.  The Stags are shooting.  First Snow takes a wide shot.  Next Sophomore Middie Drew Federico takes a wide shot. Then Sperry has his shot blocked followed by Warden who has his shot blocked at 2:09.  Denver’s Faus gets to the ground ball and starts a clear.  Now Denver is looking to break the tie when Fairfield’s Murphy gets credited with a caused turnover and the ground ball with 21 seconds remaining in the period.  The Stags clear and Snow has his last second shot blocked. Period ends the game tied at 7-7.

Roe and Carraro start the fourth period at the X with Roe being called for a violation.  The Pioneers offense takes a shot 40 seconds played in the period but Murphy makes a save.  Stags clear and start its offense but the Denver has a caused turnover.  Denver gets the ground ball and they move the ball very quickly.  It results in an unassisted goal by Harrison Archer at 12:56 to give Denver a lead by 8-7.  This time Roe beats Carraro and Roe ends up with the ground ball.  After being on the attack for about 30 seconds, the Stags’ have an unforced turnover.  The Pioneers clear and take 40 seconds off the clock when Eric Anderson scores to push the lead to 9-7.  Cameron Flint gets the assist with 11:06 left in the quarter.  Now Roe beats Carraro and Johnson playing the wing gets the ground ball.  Fairfield offense works the ball for about 45 seconds when Warden hits for his third goal of the game unassisted at 10:19 to reduce the Pioneers lead to 9-8.  Carraro now wins the face off and Priutt on the wing picks up ground ball.  At 9:26 a Denver shot is saved by Murphy.  Senior Defender Dan Niebler is called for an illegal body check and sits for one minute.  The Pioneers extra man unit want to get some breathing room and takes a shot within 20 seconds. The first shot is blocked and 20 seconds later the second shot by Law is saved by Murphy.  Murphy starts the clear and the Stags kill off the ball of the penalty. Coach Copelan uses one of his two time outs at 7:45 to set up the offense and to get the team focused.  Fairfield restarts but quickly Denver’s Harley Brown creates a turnover  and the goal keeper Faus gets the ground ball and starts the clear.  The Pioneers are now shooting to get that two goal lead.  First Flint takes a wide shot.  Then  Eric Adamson also takes a wide shot.  Next Gordie Koerber takes a shot with 6:01 left that Murphy saves but Denver retains the ball on the rebound.  Koerber commits a turnover and the Stags clear.  McLinden hits linemate Warden in stride.  Warden buries the shot and now the game is tied at 9-9.  This is Warden’s fourth goal of the game and McLinden second assist.  He is a feeding machine!! On the goal scored at 5:11, Denver’s Brown is called for a cross checking penalty and sits for one minute.  On the man down face off, Roe is now facing Chris Hampton at the circle.  Roe wins and the ground ball is picked up Johnson who was on the wing.  Snow send a shot wide and the Stags retain the ball.  Then Johnson’s shot goes wide.  Cramer’s shot at 4:10 is saved by Faus and Denver has killed the penalty.  Cramer’s rebound goes to Denver and they clear.  After working the ball for a shot in the next 45 seconds, the Pioneers have a turnover.  Now the Stags have the ball and looking for the game winner but denver’s Brown causes a turnover and he gets the ground ball.  He retains the ball for the next 20 seconds before turning the ball over.  Fairfield’s Niebler gets the ground ball and starts the clear.  There is 1:59 left in the game and Coach Copelan calls his second timeout to set up the rest of the game.  Fairfield restarts and are very patient looking that game winner.  Too patient for the officials as they call a 30 second shot warning on the Stags with 68 seconds left on the clock.  This forces the Stags to go to the cage and with 50 seconds left, Snow takes a shot that Faus saves.  Faus gets the ground ball and starts the clear.  Denver calls a timeout with 20 seconds remaining.  Denver restarts and with 4 ticks left on the clock, Koerber takes a shot that is blocked.  He gets the rebound and shoots with no time left on the clock but that shot is also blocked.  The score is now 9-9 and the teams will play a sudden victory overtime period!!

This will be Denver’s third straight OT game and its fifth OT game this season.  Roe and Carraro go to the X for hopefully the final time of the game.  Roe wins the face off and gets to the ground ball.  (Coach Tierney blames one of his wings for net getting to the ground ball in his post game comments.)  With only one time out in an OT period, Coach Copelan uses his time out right away and stops the clock at 3:51 of the OT period.  With Copelan’s instructions, the Stags are looking for that game winner on the restart.  They work the ball not finding any chances.  Looking to reset after a broken play, Snow catches the ball in the middle, fakes a pass and takes an overhand shot that goes into the net and sets off a wild celebration by the Stags.  Final score:  Fairfield 10 Denver 9!!  Second straight year the Stags have beaten Denver in OT and with Snow getting the game winner in both games.

Denver outshot the Stags by a slight margin- 36 shots to 35 shots.  Murphy had 11 saves versus 7 saves for LaPlante and Faus.  The Pioneers had a decided advantage in ground balls- 35 to 21.  The Stags had 12 turnovers versus only 8 for Denver.  Roe beat the combination of Denver face off men by taking 12 of 22 face offs and Denver had 10 of 22 face offs.  Both teams had excellent clearing.  The Stags completed all 17 of their clears while Denver was successful in 16 of 17 clears.  Fairfield was 1 of 2 in man up situations while Denver was o for 1.

Stars of the Game-Eric Warden was terrific with four goals including scoring all of the Stags goals in the 2nd half.  Jack Murphy was credited with 11 saves, one caused turnover and two ground balls.  Sam Snow got two goals, one assist and three balls. His goal in OT was the game winner.  Super Soph Colin McLinden had one goal and two assists.  Marshall Johnson got four ground balls whie Tristian Sperry had one goal and two ground balls.  Stars for Denver were Eric Law with two goals and two assists.  Wesley Berg had one goal, one assist and four ground balls.  Chris Hampton, Jack Ruitt and Kyle Hercher all had three ground balls.

The Stags will play Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio to complete the 2013 regular season campaign on Saturday April 27th.   Roger Yergeau ’73

To the Founders and Friends of Fairfield Lacrosse- The Fairfield Stags travel to Denver, CO on Saturday April 20, 2013 at 1 PM (Mountain Standard Time) to take on the #1 ranked Denver Pioneers in a crucial game for the Stags.  The Stags come into the contest with a 7-5 overall record and 3-2 in the ECAC Lacrosse League.  Denver will enter the game with a 10-2 overall record and a 5-0  record in ECAC play.  To get into the ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament on May 2nd at Hobart, Fairfield needs to win in Denver or at Ohio State next Saturday.

Denver opened the season with a win over Duke in Durham , NC by  14-12 score.  The following week the Pioneers were upset in Jacksonville, FL by the Nittany Lions of Penn State.  The final score was 15-12.  Denver opened their home season with a win by a 18-10 score over Lehigh who was ranked in the top 20.  Their next game was played at the Air Force Academy was a 11-4 win over Canisius.  Denver traveled to Columbus, Ohio and beat top 10 ranked Ohio State by a 10-9 score to open their ECAC Lacrosse League schedule.  In another game against a top 10 ranked team, the Pioneers lost to Notre Dame at home by a 13-12 margin in OT.  Staying at home, Denver took on their “neighbor” Air Force in an ECAC contest.  Pioneers won in OT by 11-10 score.  Denver traveled to upstate New York and beat Hobart by a 14-5 margin in a ECAC game.  Marquette playing in its first year at Division 1 went to Denver and the Pioneers won the game by a 15-4 score.  Bellarmine in an ECAC game came to Denver and the Pioneers won that game by a 11-10 final score in 2 OTs. Last Saturday, Denver went to Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore MD to play top ten ranked Loyola.  Loyola scored first but Denver answered with four straight goals to grab a 4-1 first quarter lead.  The Greyhounds scored the first goal of the second quarter and then the Pioneers got two goals to lead by a 6-2 score.  Loyola cut the lead by a 6-3 margin and Denver closed out the first half scoring for a 7-3 lead.  After both teams did not score in the first 10 minutes of the third quarter, Loyola got a goal and then Denver scored two straight goals for a 9-4 lead.  The Greyhounds went on a three goal run and the score is 9-7 at the end of three quarters.  Denver get the first two goals of the fourth quarter for an 11-7 lead.  Loyola answers with two goals and now the game has a 11-9 score.  Denver gets a goal to push the lead by three goals.  The Greyhounds then go on a three goal run to tie the score at 12-12.  The game goes to OT.  Denver’s FOGO man wins the draw and the Denver wing picks up the ground ball and he heads straight to the cage and rips on past the Loyola goal keeper for a 13-12 win with only 16 seconds off the clock.  This win propelled the Pioneers to a #1 ranking in both the Nike Media Poll and the USILA Coaches’ Poll.  The ECAC  named three Denver players to the ECAC Players of the Week.  Cameron Flint was the Offensive Player of the Week, Chase Carraro was the Specialist Player of the Week, Goal Keeper Ryan LaPlante was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Week.

The Pioneers have scored 156 goals this season off of 443 shot attempts and a 13.0 goals scored per game.  Their opponents have scored 116 goals with 459 shot attempts for a 9.67 goals scored per game average.  Denver is averaging 36.9 shots per game while the opposition is averaging 38.2 shots per game.  The Pioneers have scored 87 goals with an assist and 69 unassisted goals.  Their opponents have scored 62 goals with an assist and 79 unassisted goals.  Denver has scored 15 man up goals out of 48 chances for a .312 conversion rate.  Their opponents have scored 7 goals our of 31 chances for a .226 conversion rate.

The Pioneers have gotten to 338 ground balls this season and the opposition has scooped up 344 gbs.  Denver has 160 turnovers and their opponents have 130 turnovers.  The Pioneers’ defense has had 63 caused turnovers and the opposition has 79 caused turnovers.  Denver’s face off unit has won 156 draws out of 317 attempt for a .492 winning percentage.  The opponents have won 161 face offs out of the 317 attempts for a .508 winning percentage.  The Pioneers have a .929 clearing percentage while their opponents are clearing to a .953 percentage.  The Pioneers have been flagged 35 times this year and their opponents have been penalized 52 times.

The third period has been the Pioneers most productive session with 41 goals.  Denver’s next best quarter was the fourth quarter with 39 goals and the second quarter has seen the Pioneers’ score 38 times.  In the opening session, the Pioneers have scored 35 times.  In three OT games, the Pioneers have tallied 2 goals in the first OT period and one goal in the second OT period.

Leading the Pioneers in scoring is Eric Law.  He has 27 goals and 23 assists for 50 points.  Wesley Berg has scored 35 goals and 10 assists for 45 points.  Cameron Fint has 24 goals and 6 assists for 30 points.  Eric Anderson has scored 20 goals and 9 assists for 29 points.  In eight games Gordie Koerber has 16 goals and one assist for 17 points. Jeremy Noble has played in six games.  Noble has scored 9 goals and 6 assists for 15 points.  Scoring four goals and 9 assists for thirteen points in 11 games is the scoring line for Colin Scott.  Ryan LaPlante has started 11 games in goal and played 444 minutes.  LaPlante has allowed 72 goals with a 9.73 goals against average. He has been credited with 96 saves with .570 save percentage while facing 284 shots.  Jamie Faus had also played in 8 games with one start.  Faus has played 268 minutes and allowed 43 goals while facing 168 shots.  His goals against average is 9.62 while saving 56 shots for a .566 save percentage.

Fairfield has scored 108 goals this year after taking 412 shot attempts for a 9.00 goals per game average and a .262 shot percentage.  The opponents have scored 112 goals with the opposition has taken 421 shot attempts for a 9.33 goals per game average and a.266 shot percentage. Fairfield has taken 34.3 shots per game and the opponents are averaging 35.1 shots per game.  The Stags have gotten 52 goals via an assist and 56 unassisted goals while the opponents have 53 goals via the assist and 59 unassisted goals.  Fairfield have converted 14 extra man goals this season going 14-54 this season for .259 conversion rate while the opponents have scored 12 goals in 36 attempts for a .333 conversion rate.

Fairfield has gotten to 389 ground balls and the opponents have scooped up 383 ground balls.  The Stags have turned the ball over 177 times this year while the opponents are turning the ball over 178 times.  Fairfield’s defense has caused 87 turnovers this season and the opponents have caused the Stags to turn the ball over 107 times.  In the face off circle, Fairfield has won 116 of 256 attempts for a .453 winning percentage and the opponents have been successful 140 times out of 256 chances for a .547  winning percentage.  The Stags have been successful on .860 percentage  of their clears and the opposition has cleared the ball with a .864 percentage. Fairfield has been penalized 40 times this season and the opponents have been flagged 55 times.

The opening stanza has seen Fairfield score 33 times in the 2013 campaign.  The fourth period has been the second most productive period with the Stags hitting the back of the net 29 times and the second period has the Stags scoring 25 times. Fairfield’s least productive period had been the third period with 21 goals being scored.  The opponents best scoring period is the final quarter with 31 goals.  Opponents have scored 28 times in  the  third quarter and 27 second quarter.  The opponents have scored just 26 times in the first period.

Leading the Stags in scoring are Jordan Greenfield with 27 goals and 7 assists for 34 points and Sam Snow is second on the team with 15 goals and nine assists for 24 points.  Super Soph Colin McLinden has nine goals and twelve assists for 21 points. Tristian Sperry now has 20 points with 16 goals and four assists.    Nick Guida,  Super Frosh TJ Neubauer and Eric Warden both have twelve points.  Neubauer has ten goals and two assists and  Warden has eight goals and four assists.  Nick Guida has seven goals and four assists.  Drew Federico and Marshall Johnson have eight points. Johnson has scored five goals and three assists while Federico has four goals and four assists.  Jack Murphy has played all 720 minutes in goal this year. He has allowed 112 goals for a 9.33 goals against average and getting 135 saves for a .547 save percentage.  Murphy has faced 421 shots so far in this season.

What to Expect:  Do not know if the Fairfield Lacrosse Stags have ever played the #1 ranked team in the country.  I am confident that the Stags will not be intimidated by Denver’s ranking.  They are not an unfamiliar opponent.  The Stags beat the Pioneers last season.  Air Force lost to them in OT.  Bellarmine took them to 2 OTs.  The team knows that it has to win one of the last two games.  The team understands it will have to play a perfect game in order to beat the Denver team.  The Stags will need Sam Snow to score, Michael Roe to win face offs, and Jack Murphy to play the game of his life between the pipes.  I am confident that Jordan Greenfield, Tristian Sperry, Colin McLindon and TJ Neubarer will all come up with big goals.  I expect the defense lead by Greg Perraut, Dan Niebler and Toby Armour will shut down the Pioneer shooters. It will be a big upset for the Stags to beat the Pioneers.  The Stags can not allow the season to come down to the Ohio State game.  Fairfield has the tools to win this game.  Get off to a fast start and play tough defense. Let’s hope the Stags will surprise the lacrosse world with a win over the #1 Denver Pioneers.  Roger Yergeau ’73

To the Founders and Friends of Fairfield Lacrosse-The Fairfield Stags withstood a furious second half run by the Air Force Falcons with a goal by Junior Attack Jordan Greenfield with 33 seconds left in the game to break an 8-8 tie.  This pushed the Stags overall record to 7-5 and a 3-2 record in the ECAC Lacrosse League.  The game was played at Lessing Field that was soft due to Friday night’s rain and the Women’s Lacrosse game played at 11 AM under cloudy skies with a nice breeze, 50 degrees temperatures.  What happen to the bright and sunny 60 degree day promised by the weatherman?  The Stag’s ECAC Lacrosse League playoff chances got a big boost today when Hobart beat Bellarmine in 2 OTS with a 9-8 score.

The game opened with Air Force’s Erik Smith taking on Michael Roe in the face off circle to start the game.  Roe wins the face off and gets to the ground ball.  However, the Falcons causes a turnover right away and Air Force starts on the attack.  They work the ball around and at 14:05 Air Force’s Christopher Allen scores unassisted  to take a 1-0 Air Force lead.  Air Force sends out anther FOGO man- Bryan Price.  The move to Price pays off and Kyle O’Brien playing the wing for the Falcons gets to the loose ball.  Keith Dryer takes a wide shot and the Falcons back up the shot.  At 13:10, Air Force turn over the ball and the Stags clear.  The Stags offense is patient while probing the Falcon’s defense.  At 11:51, Freshman Middie  Conor Dalton nets a goal to tie the game at 1-1. Sophomore Attack Tristian Sperry gets the assist on the goal.  Price returns to the face off circle to take on Roe.  Price wins the face off with his wing Alex Warren getting to the loose ground ball.  After working the ball for 30 seconds, the Falcons turnover the ball and Senior Co-Captain Middie Marshall Johnson gets to the ground ball.  The Stags move the ball into the offensive zone and at 10:15, Junior Attack Eric Warden hits the back of the net.  Super Soph Colin McLinden who is a natural feeder gets the assist and the Stags now lead 2-1.  Price and Roe continue their face off battle and Price wins this one.  Air Force’s Kyle O’Brien gets the ground ball.  After working the ball in the offensive box, Air Force’s Smith takes a shot that Junior Goal Keeper Jack Murphy makes the save.  He starts the clear and the Stags are working hard for a shot but there are no openings for almost 60 seconds.   Greenfield rolls off of his defender and sneaks his first goal of the day just past the goalkeeper.  Stags now lead 3-1 at 8:04 and the Falcons’ coach calls time out to break the momentum.  On the face off, Air Force’s Bryan loses the face to Roe and McLinden playing on the wing gets the loose ground ball. The Fairfield offense is working to find an opening when a loose ball push call goes against the Stags.  McLinden in error rolls the ball away instead of just dropping the ball and the officials call a 30 second delay of game penalty at 7:08 of the period.  The Falcons’s extra man unit has its first chance.  They work the ball around the wheel quickly and Tommy McKee rips one past Murphy with 6:50 left in the first quarter.  The score is now 3-2 and the Falcons’ leading scorer Mike Crampton getting the assist.  Roe and Price renew their face off battle and Price wins and he also gets the grond ball.  The Falcons set up their attack and a shot by Dreyer gets saved by Murphy.  He gets the loose ground ball and starts the clear.  The Fairfield attack takes it time and at 4:46 remaining in the period they start shooting to get that 4th goal of the quarter.  First McLinden sends one wide and the Stags retain the ball.  Twenty seconds later, Sperry gets a loose ground ball around the cage and shoots but the Falcons’ Goal Keeper Austin Fox makes a save.  McLinden gets the rebound ground ball and passes to Greenfield whose shot is blocked by Air Force’s defense.  Fairfield keeps the ball and then McLinden sends a wide shot with the Stags backing up to keep the ball.  At 2:28, Greenfield curls around the cage and finds a small opening.  He puts it past Fox unassisted and now the Stags lead 4-2.  Price and Roe continue their game within the game.  Price wins this battle and also gets the ground ball.  However, Air Force can not get the ball past the midfield stripe and Warden causes a turnover.  The loose ground ball is picked up by Sperry and he wastes no time and his shot is into the back of the net.  The goal is unassisted and comes with 2:09 left in the period.  The Stags now lead 5-2. Air Force’s Smith comes out to take the face off against Roe.  Smith wins the draw and gets the ground ball.  Falcons set up their attack and the Stags defense does not want to give up a last second goal.  McLinden causes Air Force’s Crampton to turn the ball over with 1:09 remaining in the quarter.  The Stags clear and work to get one more goal in the first quarter but find no chances.  The first quarter ends with a 5-2 Stags lead.  This is one of Fairfield’s most productive scoring periods of the year.

The second quarter starts with Price back in the face off circle against Roe.  Roe wins this face off and gets to the ground ball.  The Stags offense is working the ball all around waiting to take a good shot.  After 64 seconds, Johnson gets a great pass from Sophomore Middie Drew Federico and Johnson gets his senior day goal.  Federico is credited with the assist and the Stags now lead 6-2.  Air Force changes up face off men and now Smith is out at the X taking on Roe.  Roe beats him and gets the ground ball.  O’Brien from Air Force creates a quick turnover and the Falcons’ Crampton picks up the ground ball.  The officials think Junior Long Pole Defender Toby Armour is too aggressive and call him for a slashing penalty.  The officials had a bad day on Saturday and one example was the official blowing the whistle to end play when the flag was down before the Stags got possession or the ball went out of play.  Air Force’s coach was very upset on this blown call.  Armour gets one minute and the Falcons EMO unit comes out on the field for the second time at 13:34.  The Falcons work the ball around and 20 seconds into the man up, they take a shot that Murphy saves.  Air Forces gets to the rebound and continue to work the ball around.  At 12:46, Kyle Cassady scores the extra man goal with an assist from Keith Dreyer.  The Stags lead is now 6-3.  Roe and Price are at the face off circle and Price is called for a violation. Fairfield ball.  The Stags turn the ball over 40 seconds into the offensive attack and Air Force clears.  The Falcons’ Tommy McKee takes a quick shot that Murphy saves.  Junior D Middie Shawn Honovich gets the ground ball and speeds down field (he is the fastest player on the Stags).  While running down field, Honovich creates all sorts of chaos for the Falcons.  They have too many men on the field and the flag flies and while the slow whistle is on the field, Air Force draws a second flag for interference.  Again the same official blows his whistle with two flags down before the Falcons can recover the ball or it goes out of bounds.  Coach Copelan is now upset at the same blown call! Fairfield now has a two man advantage for 30 seconds at 10:47 with Air Force’s Warden getting the interference call and Ryland De Poi serving the too many men on the field penalty. The Stags have two men up for 30 seconds.  They take 19 seconds off the clock and Neubauer’s shot is blocked.  Coach Copelan calls a time out with 11 seconds left on the double man up.  Out of the time out, Neubauer gets another shot off but it is high.  Time expires on the penalties and after the Stags retaining the ball for 30 seconds, a turnover is committed and Air Force gets the ball. The clear is successful and Air Force calls time out at 9;17.  Except for a 30 second pushing penalty by the Stags at 7:02 and the Stags successfully defend, both teams can not score before the end of the period.  With 42 seconds left in the half, the Falcons’ Taylor Hanley is called for a cross checking penalty that is unreleasable.  The Stags’ Junior Attack Alex Cramer takes a point blank shot with 27 left in the period that the Air Force’s Fox makes a stone cold save!  The period ends with a loose ball that the officials rule that was in possession by Air Force before the period ends thus the Falcons will start the second half with possession of the ball.

The  third period starts with Air Force in possesion of the ball deep in their defensive zone.  With some effort the Falcons clear the ball and kill the penalty.  The third period is a seesaw battle with both teams taking their time when they have offensive efforts.  Neither team can hit a shot for the first 12 and half minutes in the third period.  With 3:43 remaining in the period, Neubauer takes a shot that Fox saves, gets the rebound ground ball and Fox starts a successful clear.  The Falcons move the ball quickly and Cassady gets a goal with and assist from Dreyer to cut the Stags lead to 6-4 with 2:45 remaining in the period.  Price and Roe renew their face off battles.  This time Price wins and gets to the ground ball.  He attempts to set up the attack.  With 2:09 left in that half, Air Force’s Curran has a caused turnover  started by Armour.  Sophomore Middie Bryan Berry is crossed checked by McKee who sits down and serves one minute at 2:03 remaining in the quarter.  The Stags man up unit works the ball around the wheel and Greenfield’s shot is blocked by the defense.  The Falcons pick up the ground ball, clear the ball and kill off the penalty.  After working the offense for a minute, Air Force’s Smith takes a shot that Murphy saves.  Crampton for the Falcons grabs the loose ball and puts it past Murphy to cut the Stags lead to 6-5.  This goal is somewhat questionable to us in the stands as we do not think Crampton could have taken the ball out the air when Murphy popped up the initial save and wonder how Crampton was not in the crease.  Once again, Price for Air Force comes to the face off circle to take on Roe.  Price wins the face off and he gets the ground ball.  With 5 seconds left in the period, Sperry creates a turnover.  Warden gets the ground ball and shoots but his last second shot is wide.  The third period closes with the Stags being shut out offensively  and the Falcons closing the score to 6-5.

Price and Roe start the fourth quarter at the X.  Roe wins this battle and gets the ground ball.  He hits Greenfield with a pretty pass and Greenfield puts it home.  Greenfield now has a hat trick.  Only seven seconds have clicked off the clock with Roe getting an assist and the Stags push the lead to 7-5.  Coach Will Mraz remarks “that kid Greenfield sure can finish!” Falcons now send out Smith to take the face off versus Roe.  Smith wins this draw and gets the ground ball.  For the next nine minutes, the action is back and forth and neither team is scoring.  With 6:37  left in the game, the Stags have a turnover and the Falcons’ get the ground ball, clear and call a time out with 6:29 remaining.  On the restart, the Falcons offense is working the ball around.  Air Force’s Allen scores a goal with an assist from Crampton.  The goal makes it a one goal game again with 5:59 left in the game.  Roe now faces Price in the middle of the field.  Roe wins and Barry playing on the wing gets the ground ball.  The Stags attack is working hard to find the right shot.  At 4:49, McLinden’s shot hits the post.  Warden gets the rebound and fires a shot that goes high.  Fairfield retains the ball and the attack continues to work hard and trying to be patient.  The ball becomes loose and McLinden gets the ground ball.  He passes to his line mate Neubaurer.  Nebaurer fires his rocket shot and it hits the back of the net.  McLinden gets the assist and the Stags now lead 8-6 with 3:35 remaining in the game.  Now it is Smith’s turn to take the face off .  Air Force wins the face off and within 25 seconds, Crampton takes a shot that Murphy saves.   The Falcons’ McKee gets a ground ball and Smith takes a wide shot.  Air Force is firing away! Next Cassady takes a high shot.  With 2:00 remaining in the game, Air Force’s Allen gets an unassisted goal to make it a one goal game again.  Price and Roe are the X to take a critical face off. Roe wins the battle and gets the ground ball.  Before leaving the field, Roe passes the ball but the Stags have a turnover.  The Falcons clear and Crampton takes a wide shot at 1:02.  Air Force retains that ball and Smith scores a tying goal at 8-8 with 51 seconds left in the game.  The Stags stands are wondering are we going to have an OT game.  Price and Roe face off this time.  Roe wins the face off and he passes to McLinden.  McLinden gets the ball to Greenfield who wastes no time in firing a hard shot past the Falcons’ Keeper Fox.  McLinden gets the assist and the Stags now lead 9-8 with 33 seconds left in the game.  This is Greenfield’s fourth goal of the game. Now Smith is battling Roe at the X.  Smith wins the face off and gets the ball in the box.  The Falcons’ coach now calls a time out with 21 seconds left to set up a tying goal.  On the restart, Allen takes a shot for the Falcons that is blocked with 11 seconds remaining.  Cassady with one second left takes a wide shot and Murphy gets the ground ball.  Game over!!!  Stags win 9-8. Another nail biter from the cardiac kids.

The Stags had 32 shots while Air Force finished with 31 shots.  Fairfield got to 35 ground balls while the Falcons scooped up 32 gbs.  In turnovers, Air Force committed 15 while the Stags had 13.  Air Force face off men combined for 11 wins out of 20 chances.  Fairfield was successful on 16 of 17 clears and the Falcons cleared 15 of 17 chances.  Air Force was successful twice out of three extra man chances while the Stags did not score in their 3 EMO opportunities.

Stars of the game-Junior Jordan Greenfield had 4 goals including the game winner and also got to two ground balls.  Super Soph Colin McLinden had 3 assists and 5 ground balls and classmate Tristian Sperry had one goal, one assist and four ground balls.  Junior Eric Warden had a fine day with one goal and 4 gbs.  Goal Keeper Jack Murphy has 12 saves for the day including 6 saves on the second period.   For the Falcons, Christopher Allen had three goals and one ground ball.  Kyle Cassady had two goals while Kyle O’Brien got to 4 ground balls.  The two face men, Eric Smith and Bryan Price each had 4 ground balls, while combining 11 wins out of 20 chances in the face off circle.  The goal keeper Austin Fox had a rough first period but settle down. Six of his 12 saves in the second half.

Seen at the game-Coach Will Mraz returned to the sidelines on Saturday forgoing seeing his daughter playing.  Bob Cyper made is up from Rye, NY.  Mike “Magic” Brannigan came to the game from White Plains, NY.  Tony Merola ventured from Carmel, NY.  AJ O’Brian ’80 gave up an officiating gig to attend the game.  Joe Sargent attended the game with his wife and daughter.  From the Class of 2012, Brendan MacTeague was in the stands with his father.   Brent Adams’ father who has been recovering from some medical issues came to the game to give the Stags good luck. He  was working his way up to Glastonbury, CT to see Brent play an exhibition game for the Boston Cannons.  My apologies if I missed you and did not mention you.  It was great to see a lot of the Fairfield Lax Alumni attending on Senior Day.

Special Report- ECAC Lacrosse Standing-  The Stags send their thanks to the Hobart who beat Bellarmine last Saturday by a 9-8 score in double OT.  Here is the up to date standings-

Denver                 5-0

Loyola                  5-1

Ohio State           3-2

Fairfield              3-2

Bellarmine          3-4      Season in ECAC completed

Hobart                 2-3

Air Force              1-4

Michigan             0-6

The Stags to secure a spot in the ECAC Lacrosse Tournament must win one of the last two games against Denver and Ohio State.  The Stags do not want to have go to a tie breaker with Bellarmine as they have the first tie breaker with the win against Fairfield.  Ohio State plays Air Force on the road this Saturday.  The team has their work cut out for them but control their own fate.

The Stags return to action on Saturday April 20th when they go on the road to Denver University in Denver, CO.  The game will start at 1 PM Mountain time.  Roger Yergeau ’73