Fairfield will stay at home this weekend against Yale at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday after picking up a key win against Providence last weekend. The Stags are going into this weekend 3-2 with wins against Manhattan and Lehigh and losing to Sacred Heart and Brown.
Fairfield looks to get revenge against Ivy League opponents after dropping a close game to Brown, 10-8, with a game against Yale this weekend. Yale comes into this game 2-2, ranking fourth in the preseason coaches’ rankings for the Ivy League.
Yale had set a very hard nonconference schedule for themselves, playing three ranked teams out of the four, dropping games to eleventh-ranked Army West Point and fifteenth-ranked Penn State. While beating Marist and the eighteenth-ranked Boston University at the time of playing them.
“ I know they’re pretty strong all over the field with some strong young guys too.” Head coach Andrew Baxter said.
This includes first-year attackman Sean Grogan leading the team in goals and sophomore attackman Connor Gately leading in assists and points. On the faceoff dot for the Bulldogs, sophomore faceoff specialist Nick Wehmeyer is clocking in a faceoff percentage of .473.
On the defensive side, junior long stick midfielder Luke Michalik leads the team in caused turnovers and is second in ground balls. Sophomore goalkeeper Ben Friedman has been starting in net for the past three games for the Bulldogs.
For the Stags to get the result they want, they’re going to have to rely on their pair of veteran defensive standouts to shut down the underclassmen standouts of Yale in junior defenseman Julian Radossich and graduate goalkeeper Owen Hirsch, who have both excelled so far this season.
“ He’s done a great job at growing into a leadership role as a junior. Julian has had to step in recently in these past couple of games with some guys out.” Baxter said.
Radossich has already won some hardware this season, taking home the CAA defensive player of the week award after their win against Manhattan. Hirsch has started every game in the net for the Stags.
“ Consistency is key in the goalie position. He bounced back this weekend against Providence, and he’s great at bringing the energy for the team, which we feed off of.” Baxter said.
Fairfield was able to pick up a clutch 8-7 win against Providence with goals coming from multiple players, with two coming from senior midfielder Will Consoli in a five-point game. Sophomore attackman Devin Lampron and senior attackman KJ Delane both netted two for the Stags.
Fairfield looks to continue the momentum Saturday against Yale.
