Fans unable to make it to Denver can watch the semifinals via several options on the Denver athletic website. There will also be a pretournament press conference on Thursday morning with all four head coaches speaking. Fairfield head coach Andy Copelan will speak at approximately 11:55 a.m. MST (1:55 p.m. EST).

Fairfield is making its first postseason appearance since a 2005 NCAA Tournament trip. It marks the Stags sixth-ever postseason appearance, but the first that is for a conference title. The Stags played in ECAC Tournament from 1996-1999, winning the final two versions of that event. Fairfield made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002 by winning the Great West Lacrosse League. The Stags are 4-4 all-time in postseason action.

Fairfield concluded the regular season ranked in top-20 in five team categories and in the top-30 in four individual categories. The Stags are third in the nation in man-up offense, scoring 48.9 percent of the time, while ranking 10th in man-down defense by stopping foes 77 percent of the time. Fairfield ranks fourth nationally with its 13.71 turnovers per contests and are 11th in the nation in scoring defense at 7.79 goals allowed. Charlie Cipriano ranks sixth in save percentage, 11th in GAA and 14th in saves per game. Max Trunz is 26th in the nation in assists per game.

Fairfield is 1-2 this season against the participants in the 2011 ECAC Lacrosse League Championship, having played all three on the road. The Stags defeated Ohio State 11-9, while falling 7-6 in overtime to Loyola and 11-5 at Denver last Saturday.

Thursday's contest is the 13th men's lacrosse meeting of the Stags and Greyhounds, with Loyola holding a 11-1 advantage in the series. The Stags lone victory in the series came in 2006, Fairfield's first in the ECAC, 13-12 on Lessing Field. The Greyhounds won the next three meetings by the count of 44-13, before earning a 9-4 win on Lessing Field last season and a 7-6 overtime triumph this spring. It is the first-ever neutral site meeting between the two squads, with three of the dozen games played at Fairfield and the rest at Loyola.

In the most closely contested game in the series between the two teams, Fairfield twice rallied from two goal deficits, but Loyola tallied forced overtime and earned a 7-6 win in Baltimore, Md. on April 9. Charlie Cipriano made a season-high 16 saves in the loss for Fairfield which scored five of seven goals to turn a 3-1 second quarter deficit into a 6-5 lead with 4:39 to play. Chris Palmer scored his only goal of the tame with 2:50 to play, to force overtime and D.J. Comer netted the game-winner 49 seconds into the extra period for the win. Five different Stags scored in the game with three - Jordan Greenfield, Max Trunz and Sam Snow - also handing out assists. Marshall Johnson went 6-12 at the face-off X while Clay Wells caused a team-best three turnovers.

Junior Charlie Cipriano has had a career year, stopping 153 shots, ninth most in a single-season in program history. He finished the regular season ranked 14th nationally at 10.93 saves per game, first in the ECAC, with 10 or more spots in nine games. Cipriano also ranks tops in the ECAC in save percentage, 59.3 percent, and GAA, 7.63, categories he is sixth and 11th nationally. He made a season-high 16 saves in Loyola, the third of four consecutive games he made at least 12 saves. The junior has allowed opponents to score in double-digits just twice this year, and held five opponents to six or less goals. Cipriano has been named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Week on three occasions this season and earned NEILA Player of the Week accolades on April 25. He begins tournament play fourth in program history with 291 career saves.

Max Trunz did not score a point against Denver, his first such effort in his last six outings. The team leader with 21 assists, he scored 14 points (4G, 10A) in the previous five games he played. The effort also moved him atop the team standing in points with 26. The 21 assists Trunz has handed out is two shy of moving into the single-season top-10 and his 1.5 assists per game is third in the league and 26th in the nation. Trunz has handed out 35 assists over the last two seasons and his 46 career assists is ninth in program history. Trunz has also picked up 10 ground balls this season.

Loyola is averaging 8.42 goals per game, good for fifth in the ECAC, while posting a team GAA of 7.84, third in the league. Mike Sawyer has touched net a team-best 27 times, on 116 shots, and leads the team with 32 points. Matt Langan is next with 31 points, including a team-best 16 assists. John Schiavone has won 55.2 percent (116-210) of his face-offs and has picked up 63 ground balls to contribute to the Greyhounds 31.75 per game. Jake Hagelin has played all but 10 of the team's 735 minutes in net and has a 7.78 GAA to show for it. He has stopped 94 shots and picked up 30 ground balls.