The Fairfield University men’s lacrosse team (5-6, 0-2 CAA) were doubled over by the Towson University Tigers (7-3, 2-0 CAA) at an afternoon Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) matchup on Sat., April 6. The 14-7 loss on Fairfield’s Conway Field contributed to Fairfield’s 3-game losing streak.
Stags Jack Brennan ’19 and Dylan Beckwith ‘20 each tallied a pair of goals, and Beckwith was credited for a helper to Patrick Drake ’22 for his single goal of the game. Beckwith stretched his point streak to 21, which dates back to the 2018 season.
Fairfield’s weak face-offs played a huge component in their loss, as they went 2-25 against Towson’s Alex Woodall, who currently holds the second best face-off record in the country.
In a post-game interview, 11-year head coach Andy Copelan expressed his disappointment of the Stags’ play, especially in regards to their center-field failures. He acknowledged how instrumental Towson’s constant possession of the ball was their defeat.
“I just felt like we didn’t have the ball enough and we tried pretty much everything and anything under the sun to try to come up with a face-off plan that would neutralize Woodall, but he’s one of the best in the country and it really showed today.”
Copelan expressed high hopes that the team will dig themselves out of the rut they are in, accrediting some of their weaknesses to his younger, still developing roster of men.
“You never know, we’re gonna go through some growing pains, being relatively young in spots here as well. I liked the guys in the locker room today but I did not like what I saw today…Right now we’re getting pushed around way too easily.”
Beckwith reflected on the day’s mistakes, and how his team planned on working on them in time for next week’s April 13 game at Drexel University. “We definitely made a lot of mistakes. Most of their goals were because of failed clears or we didn’t pick up ground balls or something stupid, but I feel like we’ll look back at the film and correct our mistakes for this week coming up.”
One of his solutions was to watch film in preparation, and focus primarily on possessing a next-game mentality as he acknowledged that the game in Pennsylvania was do-or-die.
“It’s back against the wall. I don’t know what the other CAA scores were yet, but we are in must-win territory right now and so hopefully that can bring a real resurgence of just overall energy into the locker room,” said Coach Copelan.
Fairfield fans will anxiously await the next match, hoping that they put themselves in a better position to go further this season.
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