The Fairfield men’s lacrosse team may not believe in karma, but the Stags certainly knew it wasn’t a good sign.
“Our bus broke down,” said Head Coach Ted Spencer. “Things really just didn’t go from the get-go.”
Once they finally got to Geneva, N.Y., the Stags’ luck didn’t fare much better in an 11-10 loss to Hobart.
The team fell victim to a controversial referee call on a potential game-tying goal that crossed the line at the end of regulation.
With consecutive losses, the Stags now face the toughest portion of their schedule in a mode of desperation. The loss also drops them to 1-2 in the ECAC and to 19th in the USILA coaches’ poll.
“We felt like we out-played them and we should’ve won,” said Spencer. “But we had a few too many turnovers on offense and not enough saves in goal.”
For the second time in as many games, the Stags were stifled by a wunderkind goaltender, this time in freshman Max Silberlicht.
Silberlicht, making his first career start, was an integral part of the Statesmen’s win. Of the 27 shots on goal, the freshmen stopped 17 and held the Stags to 10 goals, tying their season low.
“He was really carrying their defense,” said midfielder Dan Boudreau ’08, who finished the game with two goals, his third multi-goal effort of the season.
Despite Silberlicht’s heroics, Fairfield nearly tied the game at the end of regulation. The referee ruled a no goal, as senior midfielder Greg Downing’s shot hit just low of Silberlicht and slowly passed over the line as time expired.
Much like they did against Penn State, the Stags did not go down quietly. After being down three goals with only 4:22 to play, Boudreau scored to pull the Stags within two.
Following a pair of outstanding saves by Silberlicht, Downing scored to make it a one goal game.
Unfortunately for the Stags, that goal came with only 24 seconds remaining in regulation, leaving the Stags without ample time to complete their comeback.
Downing’s play was a promising sign. He broke out of his statistical slump with a goal and three assists.
Despite the loss, players said they feel good about the way they are playing.
“We really wouldn’t say we’re struggling,” said senior defensive midfielder Tim Gazzini. “We’re really staying positive, and we think we can rebound in a big way [against Georgetown].”
The Stags’ NCAA tournament hopes will likely be determined by how they fare in three games against top 10 teams over the next three weeks.
They play at No. 5 Georgetown on Saturday, host No. 10 North Carolina on April 15 and play at No. 8 Loyola-Maryland on Apr 24.
Unlike the past two contests in which the team downplayed the game’s importance, players said that the games in the coming weeks will be very important.
“It’s pretty much everything,” said Boudreau.
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