THE ULTIMATE STAGS VIEWING GUIDE

With students new and old just about done unpacking and ready to take on the academic year, here are the top five stories to look for from Fairfield sports in 2005-06.

5. Soccer is the Stags’ second best Men’s team, behind lacrosse.

With the return of its top two leading scorers, and a defensive unit that should be among the best in the MAAC, the Stags will contend for a league title. Junior forward Mike Troy is at full strength after an injury-plagued 2004, and teams with senior Bill Androustos to make up one of the league’s best 1-2 combos. Junior defender Alex Cunliffe, a former English national team captain, is a star, and is exciting to watch even for fans who can’t tell a yellow card from a yellow cab. If the anchor of a soccer team is the goal-tender, the Stags have a good one in senior Andrew Frankel, who already has a MAAC Defensive Player of the Week award under his belt. He had 12 saves in season-opening Wolfpack Classic at N.C. State in which the Stags lost in the finals after beating the host school in the semis.

4. Women’s volleyball is the most underrated Stags team, and it might even be the best.

Men’s basketball and men’s lacrosse may get the most attention, but the team with the best chances of going to the NCAA tournament, and perhaps the team with the two best players, is women’s volleyball. Head coach Jeff Werneke has made a habit out of recruiting from Hawaii, and it has paid off. Sophomores Lindsey Lee and Jazmin Pa’akaula form what may be the best pair of athletes on campus, and together with fellow St. Joseph High School product Ashley Hanohano, form a headline-grabbing trio. Worst case scenario for this team, they fall short of the Big Dance, but with nearly every major contributor returning, emerge as the heavy favorite in the MAAC next year.

3. Women’s basketball will be worth watching this year.

Traditionally, they don’t draw much of a crowd and are overshadowed by their male counterparts, but this year’s team will be very interesting to watch, if nothing more. The Stags lose two 1,000 point scorers and emotional leaders (Janelle McManus and Cathy Dash) from last year’s team, but return four starters, including lightning-quick guard Sabra Wrice, a MAAC all-Rookie selection last year.

Last year’s team got much better as the season progressed, with its four freshmen playing like experienced veterans down the stretch. If each player meets or exceeds her expectations, this team could contend for its first NCAA tournament birth since 2001. Plus, Head Coach Dianne Nolan heads into her 27th season needing just nine wins to reach 500 for her career. With that win, she’ll become the first coach in school history to reach the plateau, and deserves to do it in front of more than a few hundred people.

2. Don’t expect much from the men’s basketball team.

Last year expectations were sky-high, with visions of the NCAA tournament dancing in Stags’ fans heads at season’s beginning. But although senior standout Deng Gai had perhaps the greatest season in school history, the Stags were inconsistent at best, and lousy at worst, going 16-16 and falling to Rider in the MAAC semis.

This year Gai and point guard Tyquawn Goode (the team captain) have departed, leaving the Stags with shaky low-post defense and without a natural leader on the floor. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the Stags’ senior class, led by leading scorer Terrance Todd, is as good a class as Tim O’Toole has had in years, and that the Stags have been known to exceed expectations in the past. Two seasons ago, in 2003-04, the Stags won 19 games with Gai and Todd both sidelined for nearly half the year.

Another factor that may work to the Stags’ advantage is the new configuration of the Arena at Harbor Yard. The court will be moved to one end of the arena, and the seats at the opposite end will be blocked off, in order to create a more intimate (and hopefully loud) atmosphere. The student section will now be behind the basket, giving the Red Sea an opportunity to cause a disturbance for visiting shooters.

1.This spring’s men’s lacrosse season will be a thriller.

After being routed by Duke in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year, the Stags are hungrier than ever to be the first team in school history to win a tournament game. This year they move into the ECAC, one of the nation’s best leagues, and with a good regular season showing, an at-large bid to the Big Dance is a very real possibility. No Fairfield team since the 2001 women’s basketball team has been awarded an at-large bid.

Expect the Stags to play in front of capacity crowds throughout the season. Junior midfielder Greg Downing is coming off of one of the greatest seasons in school history. The Auburn, N.Y. native has led the team in scoring in each of his two colligate seasons, and was given an honorable mention for last year’s STX/Geico All-America team. Junior attackman Mike Bocklet joined Downing on last year’s All-New England team, and that’s just the start of what the class of 2007 brings to the table.

Face-off man Charlie Keinath was among the nation’s best in his first year as a starter, and goal-tender Michael Kruger was consistently good throughout the year and should improve. Put that together with what Spencer considers one of the best incoming freshmen classes he’s had, and you’ve got a team worthy of every ounce of the national attention it will receive.

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