Game Notes LiveStats Video
The #13/14 Fairfield University men's lacrosse team hosts the University of Maryland Baltimore County for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday on Alumni Field. The Stags are 2-2, while the Retrievers enter the game at 1-2.
Fairfield and UMBC are meeting for the fourth time and the Stags are 3-0 in the series. Colin McLinden fed John Snellman 44 seconds into overtime to give the Stags a 10-9 win over the Retrievers in the 2012 meeting. That was the first meeting since the two teams played a home-and-home series in 1998 and 1999, games the Stags won 13-5, on the road, and 10-8 at home.
Fairfield dropped a 9-2 decision to Hofstra on Tuesday on Alumni Field in its last outing with goals from Nick Guida and Jordan Greenfield. The Stags never led the game and the game saw just one tie, 1-1 after Guida's first quarter goal. Hofstra scored four straight goals to build a 5-1 edge with 2:56 to play in the third. Greenfield snapped got the Stags within three, 5-2, with a goal with 55 ticks left in the third, but Hofstra responded 51 seconds later to blunt any comeback and added three late goals for the final tally. Jack Murphy stopped 13 shots for the Stags, while Michael Roe had a team-best five ground balls after going 8-13 at the face-off X.
Murphy continues to shine early in the 2013 season for the Stags. He stopped 13 shots against Hofstra and now has 11 or more in every game he has started at the Division I level. He stopped 14 in games versus Navy and North Carolina and has held all but Carolina to single-digit goal totals. Murphy has 52 saves, against 34 goals allowed, and an 8.50 GAA as he has played every second the team has played this spring. He also leads the team with 23 ground balls. A two-time ECAC Defensive Player of the Week, Murphy began the week ninth in the nation in save percentage and 14th in both GAA and saves per game. He also leads the team in ground balls this spring.
Sam Snow didn't find the back of the net for the first time this season at Hofstra, but still led the team in points, with two assists. That effort gives him three for the year and when combined with his seven goals, moves him to a first-place tie with 10 points. Snow has five ground balls, including three at home versus Navy. Snow has now tallied 108 career points and is three shy of tying Tom Saunders (1994-97) for ninth on the list. He has scored 76 career goals, eighth-best in program history, and 11 shy of John Snellman (2009-12) for sixth.
UMBC is coming off of a 21-9 loss at Loyola on Wednesday night and are now being outscored 40-29 for the season. Scott Jones leads the Retrievers with seven goals and eight points, while Joe Lustgarten has a team-best five assists and six total points. Phil Poe has taken a majority of the face-offs and is 32-62, .516 percent, and has a team-best 12 ground balls. UMBC is at a 108-89 disadvantage on the year in ground balls. The team has 63 turnovers, while foes have 61, 36 of which have been caused. Zach Esser has a team-best six caused turnovers entering Saturday. Adam Cohen has started all three games for UMBC and has a .429 save percentage, 27 saves, and a 13.0 GAA in 165 minutes of action. Wes DeRito has played one quarter and made a save against four goals allowed.
