In 2002, the Fairfield lacrosse team won the Great Western Lacrosse League tournament, clinching their first ever NCAA tournament bid and their fourth league title under Coach Ted Spencer. The Stags claimed three titles during their time in the MAAC, winning three straight from 1996-98.
But winning for Fairfield lacrosse has become a little bit like winning for the Yankees – it’s become expected. That is why senior midfielder Tom Werney itches to get back to the NCAA tournament. And one reason he might, according to Spencer, is that he’s healthy, and ready to carry this team on his back.
For Werney, a two-time all-league selection, college lacrosse has been a roller-coaster ride that has seen its share of both triumph and turbulence. Spencer says he expects Werney to be somewhere between 80 and 100 percent as the season begins, as Werney had off-season surgery for the second time in two seasons, this time to repair a hernia. In 2003, Werney missed the entire season after having knee surgery and was still in the recovery process throughout the season last year.
“Tommy was maybe 50 to 60 percent last year, and we had to use him at attack instead of midfield because he couldn’t run,” Spencer said.
This year though, Werney says, is a different story. He’s running at about 90 percent, which, when accompanied by a shot that tops off at well more than 90 miles per hour, makes him one of the league’s most dangerous players.
The move back to midfield will put Werney on the same unit as last year’s team-leader in scoring, sophomore Greg Downing, whom Spencer considers to be a blue-chip player with a possible shot at professional lacrosse.
“We might have the best midfield in the country,” Werney said.
Downing, the reigning GWLL Rookie of the Year after racking up 23 goals and 33 points, got a great deal of help from classmate Mike Bocklet, who may very well have won the honor himself had it not been for Downing.
“For them to do what they did last year as freshmen was incredible,” Werney said.
That midfield, along with a more experienced defensive unit, including sophomore goalie Michael Kruger, is good enough in Werney’s eyes to turn a 1-4 team in the league a year ago to an NCAA tournament team this year.
“The league championship is our goal every year,” Werney said. “We’ve won it before, and we just have to get back there.”
Getting back there won’t be easy, according to Spencer, especially with 22 freshmen on the roster, many of whom are likely to get significant playing time. But with Werney and senior midfielder Sean Flynn – the team’s co-captains, the Stags could have enough experience to make things happen.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say our expectations are very high because we’re still so young,” Spencer said, “but the potential is definitely there. We’re much deeper this year at every position.”
With the move to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) in 2006, the Stags bring in a freshmen class that features four players who were named New York All-Empire State as juniors – the most the Stags have ever had in one class.
But for now, the Stags have some unfinished business to take care of. After all, before they can be the Beasts of the East, they’ll need to re-stake their claim as the Best in the West, no matter how close to the Atlantic Ocean they may be.
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