Game Notes
The #14 Fairfield University men's lacrosse team plays hosts #4 Loyola University Maryland on Lessing Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. in a battle of ECAC Lacrosse League unbeatens. The Stags are 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the ECAC, having won their last two games, while the Greyhounds are 9-0 on the year and 3-0 in league play. The two squads are the only remaining unbeatens in ECAC action.
Tickets to the game are available at the gate on Saturday, with all youth players, age 12 and under, being admitted free. Those unable to make the game can watch at FairfieldStags.tv ($7.95) or follow livestats (free). Ivey Speight will also be broadcasting the game, his call will be on the video stream as well, for WVOF.org.
Fairfield and Loyola will be meeting for the 14th time and the seventh time as members of the ECAC. The Greyhounds have won 11 of those games, with the Stags winning the last meeting, a 10-9 win in the 2012 ECAC semifinal. Fairfield has just one regular season win all-time against the Greyhounds, defeating #16 Loyola 13-12 on Senior Day on Lessing Field in 2006. The Greyhounds won the next four meetings, including a 19-2 victory, which equaled the largest margin of victory in the series. That original 17-point margin came in the team's first meeting, the 1994 opener, an 18-1 Loyola victory.
For the seventh consecutive week the Stags are receiving votes in national polls, earning the 14th 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 fourth straight week.
At #4 in the nation Loyola is the second highest ranked opponent to visit the Fairfield campus to take on the Stags men's lacrosse team. The Stags hosted #2 Georgetown in 2006, falling 10-5. Last season the Stags hosted #8 Hofstra, and the Greyhounds were on campus as the nation's #9 ranked team in 2009 and 15th ranked team in 2008. In 2005 the Stags defeated #11 Notre Dame, 12-11, and #12 Denver, 9-8, which remain the highest ranked teams the Stags have beaten at home in program history. Fairfield's 10-8 win over then #3 Notre Dame in Houston in 2010 is the program's highest-ranked win.
The Stags are 4-0 at home this season and will play three of their final four regular season games on campus. The Stags are 16-7 at home under Andy Copelan in his four seasons. Copelan coached Stag squads are 3-2 in games on Lessing Field, with a 2-1 record on the grass against ECAC foes.
Fairfield begins the week ranked 6th in the nation with a team face-off win percentage of nearly 60 percent. The Stags have won 142 face-offs this season, 14.2 per game, which is nearly double the 7.25 face-off wins per game of last season. The Stags have increased their scoring as well, putting in 11.2 goals per game this season, up from 8.0 a game last season. The Stags entered the week ranked 15th in the nation in scoring average, after finishing the 2011 season ranked 48th
Brent Adams struck for two goals at Bellarmine and is now second on the team with 22 tallies. He has at least one point in every game this season, and six goals in the last two games. Adams also is fourth on the team with 18 ground balls and has one in each game this year, and in 14 consecutive games dating back to last season. He is tied for the team lead with 28 points, and has three game-winning goals and both man-down goals for the team this year.
Michael Roe has 117 face-off wins on the year, one more than the Stags won as a team all of last season. That number is fifth on the Stags single-season list, with the 197 of Peter Vlahakis standing atop the list. Roe ranks ninth in the nation with a 61.9 win percentage, which has raised his career win percentage to 57 percent, 12th amongst active Division I players. He ranks 18th in the nation at 5.1 ground balls per game, entering the week, and leads the team with 53 picked up this season.
Since being held scoreless by Vermont Sam Snow has exploded and is averaging 3.5 points per game in the four outings since. He netted two goals, including his second game-winner of the year, at Bellarmine and now has 10 goals and four assists since the Vermont outing. Snow is third on the team with 27 points and is second with 22 goals.
Fairfield went 2-5 in one-goal games last season, but has started off this year 4-0. Fairfield has now won six of its last seven games decided by that margin, including the win over Loyola in the ECAC semifinals last year. In the four seasons Andy Copelan has been at the helm, the Stags have played 18 games that were decided by a single-tally, going 10-8. In that time frame there have been 31 games that have been decided by two or fewer goals and the Stags are 21-10 in those games.
