Game Notes
The #17 Fairfield University men's lacrosse team travels to the Air Force Academy for its final road game of the regular season. The Stags are 9-02 on the year and 2-1 in ECAC Lacrosse League play, while the Falcons are 6-4 on the year and 1-2 in league play.
Fans can watch the game free of charge courtesy of GoAirForceFalcons.com, which will also offer GameTracker. The game is the final home game of the year for the Falcons, who will honor seven members of their senior class prior to the contest.
A victory in Saturday's game, which is set for 2 p.m. Eastern, will clinch a berth in the 2012 ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament, which will be held May 2-4 at the University of Denver.
Fairfield and Air Force are meeting for the third time as ECAC foes and the eighth time in program history. The Stags lead the all-time series 5-2 including wins in both ECAC meetings, The Stags won the last contest at Air Force, in 2010, 4-3, in a game played in heavy fog. The series began in 2001 when the Stags joined the Great West Lacrosse League and the Stags won that game 10-7 at home. The Falcons earned their first win of the series the following year at home, 8-5 and their second win two years later, 12-6. The Stags 2010 victory is the only road win for either team in the series, with Fairfield going 4-0 at home.
For the eighth consecutive week the Stags are receiving votes in national polls, earning the 17th ranking in both the USILA Coaches and Nike/Inside Lacrosse polls. Fairfield began receiving votes in the first in-season poll, receiving votes in both polls and moved to 20th in the coaches list on February 27. The Stags reached their highest ranking, 13th, in both polls on March 12, when the squad was 6-0. The Stags also maintained their #2 ranking in the NEILA poll for the fifth straight week.
Saturday's game is the Stags seventh road game of the year, and the team has a 5-1 record in those games. Fairfield played a four-game road trip earlier this season, and won all four games. It was the second time in program history that the Stags played that many consecutive road games, going 0-4 during a swing in 1995. Fourth-year head coach Andy Copelan's road record is now 14-12 with the Stags. The Stags are 6-6 under Copelan in ECAC road games.
Michael Roe was 14-18 at the face-off X against Loyola and has 39 wins in the last three games, to give him 131 for the year. That is fifth on the Stags single-season list. He began the week ranked eighth in th nation with a win percentage of .633, which is the second best in a single-season in program history. Roe has won 10 or more face-offs in eight games this year, with a season-best 20-23 at Vermont. The .869 win percentage in that game remains the second-best single-game effort in Division I lacrosse this season, amongst players with 20 or more wins. Roe has 211 career wins and a career .581 winning percentage, which rank him 27th and 10th respectively amongst active players. He leads the Stags with 56 ground balls, and his 4.91 a game is 19th nationally. Roe also has a goal and two assists this spring.
The Stags play their final two games at home, hosting Denver on Saturday, April 21 at 1 p.m. and Ohio State on Saturday, April 28 at 1 p.m. There is a Friends of Fairfield Lacrosse reception on April 21, beginning at 11 a.m. and fans can register to attend that event on-line.
