Following the Stags’ stunning victory over 13th ranked Ohio State on Saturday, the men’s lacrosse team has its sights set on the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament berth.
Fairfield improved to 3-1 in the Great Western Lacrosse League (GWLL) with an impressive 8-7 double-overtime win over the Buckeyes, leaving the Stags one win away from a conference title and an automatic berth into the national tournament.
“That was a huge win for us-without a doubt the greatest win ever for Fairfield,” said head coach Ted Spencer.
With the team trailing 7-6, the Stags’ Garrett Bamann tied the game with just 17 seconds left in regulation to force overtime. Both teams cautiously traded possessions in the first overtime, before sophomore Tom Werney netted the game-winning goal with 3:18 left in the sudden-death period.
“That really showed the character of this team,” Spencer said. “They [Ohio State] were favored, no question. But we believe that if we come out and play our game, we are confident we can beat anybody. I’m proud of all facets of our game-everyone put forth a great effort [Saturday].”
After defeating two of the nation’s top 20 teams and collecting the biggest wins in Fairfield history this season, according to Spencer, the Stags face the biggest game-ever in the program’s second season playing in the GWLL when the team travels to Notre Dame on Sunday.
The Irish, a perennial lacrosse powerhouse who went to the NCAA Final Four last year, are currently 3-0 in the league and stand between the Stags and the conference title.
“We have to go out there and play with a lot of heart,” Werney said. “We have to play hard and play consistent-if we do those things, we’re confident that we’re going to win.”
Notre Dame was this year’s preseason favorite to repeat as GWLL champions, according to Inside Lacrosse.com, despite graduating the team’s entire attacking corps and starting goalkeeper from last year.
Fairfield, which finished second in the league last year, has received a balanced scoring attack this season, with 12 players registering at least one goal. The Stags will need a collective offensive effort while playing disciplined against the Irish, according to junior attacker Matt Buecker.
“Our offense needs to keep producing as a team and we need to reduce the amount of turnovers,” Buecker said. “We have to play tough and we’ll have a good chance at beating them.”
Although Fairfield has recorded several notable victories this season, one of the Stags’ four losses this year may impede them from advancing into the NCAA Tournament.
Fairfield’s 8-5 loss to conference foe Air Force two weeks ago may loom large if the Stags were to lose to Notre Dame this weekend. The two conference loses would take the Stags out of contention for the GWLL Title, since Notre Dame has just one conference game remaining after this weekend.
“There are a couple of games we would like to have back this year-the Air Force game is one of them. We just didn’t play good lacrosse,” Spencer said. “Our goal is to win the next three games and put ourselves in the NCAAs.”
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