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The Fairfield University men's lacrosse team resumes ECAC Lacrosse League action on Saturday versus Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y. The Stags are 5-3 on the year and the Statesmen are 4-3 overall and both teams are 1-0 in conference play, with wins over Michigan.
Fairfield and Hobart are meeting for the ninth time with the Stags holding a 5-3 advantage in the series. Fairfield won at home last season and has won three of the last four games. The last time the teams played in Geneva, 2011, the Statesmen came away with an 8-7 win. Fairfield is 4-3 against Hobart as members of the ECAC.
Jordan Greenfield netted five goals, and added one assist, to lead the Stags to an 11-10 win over Quinnipiac. The Stags raced out to a 6-1 lead early in the second quarter, but the Bobcats rallied to tie the score 7-7 96 seconds into the fourth quarter. Fairfield scored twice in 90 seconds to retake a 9-7 advantage, but again Quinnipiac surged back, with goals seven ticks apart, to tie the score. Alex Cramer scored a man-up goal at the 3:33 mark and Greenfield added an insurance goal with 61 seconds left to give Fairfield the win. Jack Murphy stopped seven shots in the win, including a potential game-tying goal at the buzzer.
Today's game begins the final six games of the year for the Stags, all against ECAC foes, and with four of them on the road. The Stags are 1-2 on the road and are being out scored, on average, 9.3-8.3 in those games. The Stags are led by Sam Snow and Colin McLinden who both have seven points in road contests. Murphy has stopped 34 of 62 shots on goal in those three games as well for a .548 save percentage. Fairfield is averaging just 6.0 face-off wins a game on the road.
Fairfield continues to excel in tight games under Andy Copelan. With its win over Quinnipiac on Tuesday Copelan coached Stag teams are 28-12 in games decided by two or fewer goals and 14-8 in one goal games.
Greenfield equaled a career-high six points in the win over Quinnipiac, scoring five times. He has now recorded four hat tricks this season and has eight goals in the last two games. Greenfield leads the team with 20 goals and 26 points, with a pair of game-winners. In the win over Michigan he put Stags ahead to stay with his third goal of the game, late in the third quarter. Greenfield picked up three ground balls versus Quinnipiac and with seven in the last two games, has 16 for the year. Greenfield first hit six points in the Stags win over UMBC, including a then career-high equaling four goals. It marked his second four goal effort of the year, as he opened the year with four tallies in the win at Bryant.
The Stags committed a season low 12 turnovers in its win over Quinnipiac and are now averaging just 13.8 turnovers per game in its victories. The Stags are averaging just 14.9 turnovers a game this season, while forcing opponents into 15.8 a game. Fairfield has committed 15 or fewer turnovers in five games this season, with a season-high 21 coming at North Carolina.
Hobart had a three-game win streak snapped by Robert Morris, 16-12, on March 17 and enter today's game at 4-3 overall. The Statesmen also defeated Michigan, 11-7, in their league opener. Alex Love is the team's leading scorer with 32 points, 26 of which are goals. Cam Stone has 29 total points, with a team-best 18 assists, while Jake McHenry has touched net 12 times. Ethan O'Connor has a team-best 27 ground balls, one of 12 players with 10 or more ground balls this spring. Gryphin Kelly is 45-100 at the face-off X, with 18 ground balls, while Charles Sipe has gong 35-70 and also has 18 ground balls. Reid Rosello has a team-best 13 caused turnovers. Peter Zonino has played all 423:12 minutes in goal with 81 saves, 79 goals allowed and an 11.20 GAA. Hobart has been outscored 79-75 on the year and are 7-22 when man-up.
Fairfield returns home to host Bellarmine at noon on March 30, before heading to defending national champion Loyola on April 6.
