Game Notes
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The Fairfield University men's lacrosse team plays its final non-conference game of the year as it hosts Quinnipiac University at 4 p.m. on Alumni Field. The Stags are 4-3 on the year while the Bobcats enter the game at 3-2.
The Stags and Bobcats are meeting for the fifth time with Fairfield holding a 3-1 record in the series. Fairfield dropped Quinnipiac 9-6 in Hamden last season for its second consecutive win in the series and the first road win for either team. Quinnipiac earned its win in the 2010 finale, 11-10 in overtime. The series began in 1999 with a 15-2 Fairfield victory.
Fairfield and Quinnipiac are both members of the New England Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (NEILA). The Stags were ranked fifth last week (new poll announced Tuesday afternoon), while the Bobcats were second. The Stags are 1-1 in NEILA games this season, defeating Bryant and falling at Yale. Today's game is the Stags final NEILA game of the 2013 regular season.
Jordan Greenfield scored a man-up goal, his third of the game, with 3:29 to play in the third quarter to put Fairfield ahead for good Thursday night. Tristan Sperry and Sam Snow both scored in the final stanza, and sandwiched around a Michigan tally to give the Stags a 10-8 win in their ECAC Lacrosse League opener. It marked the eighth time in as many seasons that the Stags have opened league play with a victory.
Fairfield has had success in tight games in the five seasons that Andy Copelan has been at the helm. Copelan coached Stag teams are 27-12 in games decided by two or fewer goals. Last season Fairfield went 6-0 in games decided by a single-goal and the loss at Carolina snapped an eight-game win streak in games decided by that margin. Under Copelan, Fairfield is 13-8 in games decided by a single tally.
Sam Snow had a goal and an assist to run his streak of consecutive three-point games to three. He had back-to-back hat tricks against UMBC and Yale, his second and third of the year, and has at least one point in every game this spring. Snow is second on the team with 14 goals and 19 points and leads the team with three man-up goals. He is 59th in the nation in goals per game and 95th nationally in points per game. Snow is three points shy of tying Travis Nelson (2005-08) for seventh on the all-time points list, entering play with 117.
The Stags have successfully killed 65 percent (17-26) of its opponent's extra-man chances, good for 35th in the nation. The Stags held Michigan to 2-5 in man-up and have stopped 6-9 in the last two games. The Stags opened the season allowing just two goals in the first 12 man-down situations they found themselves, which included killing all four chances that Carolina had. Last season Fairfield stopped 71.2 percent of opponent man-up chances which was 17th in the nation.
Jack Murphy returned to double-digit land with 10 stops in the win over Michigan, six of which came in the final quarter. He is averaging 12.6 saves per game, which is good for third in the ECAC and 11th nationally. He has 10 or more saves in all but one game this season and is second in the league with a.583 save percentage, good for ninth in the NCAA. Murphy has allowed nine or fewer goals on five occasions this season and enters Tuesday with a 9.00 GAA, 20th in the country. Murphy also continues to lead the Stags in ground balls, picking up 39 on the year, which is tops in the ECAC and 27th nationally.
Fairfield had 16 turnovers in its win over Michigan, the first time this season the Stags have committed more than 15 turnovers in a game and won. It came one game after the Stags lost a game in which they had fewer than 15 turnovers, a season-low equaling 13, at Yale. The Stags enter Tuesday night +3 in turnover margin for the year, committing just over 15 a game. Fairfield has committed 13 turnovers in three games - Yale, UMBC and Navy.
Quinnipiac enters Tuesday's game at 3-2, having dropped its last two outings, but at 3-0 away from home. The Bobcats are outscoring their opponents 53-47 on the year. Michael Sagl is the team leader in all three offensive categories, scoring 10 times and handing out 11 assists for 21 points. Dylan Webster is 56-106 at the face-off X and has a team-high 49 ground balls, to go along with six goals and three assists, and he is fourth on the team with nine points. The Bobcats have caused53 of their opponents 82 turnovers, with four players causing six apiece. Quinnipiac has committed 93 turnovers this season, just shy of 19 a game. Gill Conners has played all 300 minutes in net and has stopped 71 shots. He enters Tuesday with a 9.40 GAA and a .602 save percentage and with 27 ground balls.
