After dropping their home opener to Vermont, the Fairfield Stags Men’s Lacrosse team certainly desired to get their first win of the season against Saint Joseph’s this past Saturday, Feb. 17. Head coach Andy Copelan and company did not want to start the season 0-1, so they saw this game facing Saint Joseph’s as a pivotal match up early on in the season. Getting the first win of the season would be vital for the Stags to build momentum.
One impressive key for the Stags involved Brendan Quinn ‘19, who recorded a hat trick along with two other Stags recording three points, Dylan Beckwith ’20 recording three assists and Colin Burke ’19 recording one goal with two assists. Offense was clearly on display for the Stags as they played a cleaner game compared to their matchup against Vermont. Those three key goals for Quinn were the first three of his career and he picked the best time to have a career day.
Senior Will Fox contributed to the Stags’ victory by establishing his presence and doing what he does best – win faceoffs. Fox did exceptionally well by going 17-21 in faceoff opportunities which equals about an 81 percent success rate. The Mullica Hill, N.J. native also contributed a goal, which was his first career goal, as well as recovering 14 ground balls, which matches the known program record set by Peter Vlahakis ‘04. Fox gave Fairfield many more opportunities to score points by winning 17 of his faceoffs at position X.
The Stags took advantage of extra-man opportunities, so they can secure the upper hand facing Saint Joseph’s. To make sure they had the upper hand, they went two for four in those extra-man opportunities. On the contrary, Fairfield held Saint Joseph’s to only one for five, or 20 percent on extra-man chances compared to Fairfield’s 50 percent success. Fairfield executed more when the opposition was a man down which played a key role in how the Stags picked up the 11-6 victory on Saturday, Feb. 17.
Defense was another focal piece of Saturday’s victory where Fairfield held the Hawks to their lowest scoring outing in 12 games which dates back to last season. As mentioned, the Stags only allowed one goal when having a man down as well as forcing 14 turnovers. Both goalkeepers made double digit saves, where Sean McKee ’20 made 12 saves and Mike Adler made 10 saves for the Hawks.
Coming off a loss, the Stags were looking to record a win and they played with a purpose. Fairfield looks to go 2-1 when they match up against No. 7 Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J. as Fairfield looks to build momentum for the rest of the season.
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