Injuries are a tough way to start a season, but the nationally ranked men’s lacrosse team remains confident of defending its Great Western Lacrosse League Title this year.
The most notable of the Stags injured players is midfielder Tom Werney, ’04, who will medical red-shirt this year after suffering a season-ending knee injury during the off-season.
“It’s a really big loss,” said head coach Ted Spencer, who referred to Werney as a “franchise” player. “He’s a major, major part of what our success would have been this year.”
Werney was fifth on the team in scoring last year with 20 points, with 16 goals and four assists.
The Stags, ranked No. 22 by Inside Lacrosse’s preseason coach’s poll, will need to play a more team-oriented style this season, according to Spencer, who believed the team is better than the No. 22 ranking with Werney in the lineup. Without him, however, the Stags hold just the potential to be better than the preseason ranking.
“If we play well, we can go out and compete with anyone,” Spencer said. “But it has to be an overall team effort. We’re not going to have superstars go out and blow past opponents.”
Co-Captain Kris Klein, ’03, said the team has already begun to learn to play without Werney and Troy Bamann, who has a broken thumb.
“We’re going to need more contribution from the young guys and players that have played lesser roles in the past,” Klein said. “We don’t have the star-power and budding all-Americans some of the teams we play have.”
The Stags received that contribution from co-captain Matt Buecker, ’03, on Saturday in the team’s 14-3 defeat of Holy Cross. Buecker, who led Fairfield with 36 points last season, tallied five goals and had one assist to lead the Stags past the Crusaders.
“It was exactly the way I wanted to beat them. We just dominated them,” Spencer said. “It was a good way to win. It was a good opener, at home … I’d like to think we could win all of our home games.”
The Stags, however, take to the road for their next three games against some of the nation’s top teams, starting Saturday at No. 16 Penn State.
“It’s a huge game for us. It’s our first road trip of the year, and it will set the tone for the season,” said co-captain Tom Cook, ’03. “We weren’t completely ready last year and they beat us pretty good. We’re taking a different approach, and we should be ready this year.”
After Saturday’s game at Penn State, Fairfield plays at Brown on March 8 and at No. 1 ranked Syracuse on March 10.
“The next two, three, even four games will determine where this team is going to be,” Spencer said. “If we can hold our own against those teams … I’d like to win two out of three of those games, but we’ll see. It will be a big test this weekend.”
The Stags will compete against non-conference opponents until March 30 when the team plays its league-opener at Butler. The Stags expect Ohio State and a reloaded Notre Dame squad to provide the fiercest competition in the GWLL.
“Ohio State is ranked ahead of us right now. We beat them last year. We’re anxious to go out and prove ourselves,” Cook said. “Our goal is to win the Great West [Lacrosse League] and make it back to the NCAA’s. There are only 16 teams that make it … once we’re there we know that anything could happen.”
Fairfield was one of those 16 teams last year, after winning the GWLL Title by winning five one-goal games during the regular season, including wins over Ohio State, Denver and Notre Dame. According to Spencer, the team needs to be prepared for more of these close games this year.
“I think there’s a lot of parity in the league. We won some one goal games last year. If those games go the other way, you don’t know what happens,” Spencer said. “Our goal is to win the Great West [Lacrosse League] and that’s the bottom line. And can we do that? Yeah, I definitely think we can.”
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