May 1, 2006
Fairfield University sophomore Travis Nelson (Oswego, N.Y.) was named the ECAC Lacrosse League Offensive Player of the Week. It marks the first award for Nelson, the third of the year for the Stags as a whole.
A graduate of Oswego High School, Nelson ended the 2006 campaign with three straight games in which he netted five points. This week Nelson tallied five points in a game with #11 Massachusetts and in a win over St. John's.
In the season finale, a 12-7 win over the Red Storm, Nelson led the Stags with three goals and two assists. He assisted on two first quarter goals, which gave Fairfield a 3-0 lead that it would not give up. He then netted the team's first goal of the second quarter, to extend the lead back to two, 4-2. He scored his second goal with 59 seconds left in the first half, again quelling a Red Storm rally, and making the halftime score 7-5. He added an insurance goal in the fourth quarter.
In the Stags near upset of #11 UMass, Nelson contributed to all but one of the Stags goals in the 7-6 loss, with two goals and three assists. His pass to Mike Bocklet 51 seconds into the first quarter gave Fairfield a 1-0 lead. His first goal came at the 6:24 mark of the first quarter for the 2-0 edge. With the score 3-2 at intermission, Nelson started the second half with a goal at 10:25, for a 4-2 edge. He then assisted on the Stags goal with 7:12 left in the third quarter and at 9:16 left in the fourth quarter.
Fairfield, in its first season as a member of the ECAC Lacrosse League, posted a 6-7 overall record and a 4-3 mark in ECAC play. The Stags will finish no lower then fifth in the league, and a Rutgers win over UMass this week would put the Stags into a fourth-place tie with the Minutemen.
