Box Score
The #17 Fairfield University men's lacrosse team dropped a 12-8 decision to 20th-ranked Yale University in New Haven, Conn. on Saturday afternoon. The loss drops the Stags to 3-3 on the year, while the Bulldogs improve to 3-1.
The Stags scored the first goals of the game, with Marshall Johnson netting a tally six minutes into the contest, unassisted, and TJ Neubauer netting a pass from Eric Warden two minutes later. The Bulldogs got on the board at the 3:46 mark of the first quarter, but Nick Guida fed Tristan Sperry with 1:08 to play in the period to give Fairfield a 3-1 advantage.
Colin McLinden pushed the Stags advantage to 4-1 with his tally 35 ticks into the second quarter, but Yale answered quickly. Kirby Zdrill scored at the 11:56 and 10:33 marks to make the Stag advantage 4-3. Sam Snow got into the scoring with a man-up goal at the 10:07 mark, but again the Bulldogs answered, this time with three straight. Conrad Oberbeck made it 5-4 at the 9:03 mark, and Colin Flaherty tied the score 5-5 with an unassisted goal at the 7:47 mark of the second. Oberbeck put Yale in front with his second with 4:06 to play and the Bulldogs took a 6-5 lead into the break.
Yale continued the run into the second half as Alexander Otero scored just under six minutes into the period for an 8-5 advantage. Snow scored his second man-up of the game at the 5:59 mark of the third and Guida struck with 1:55 left in the period, also with an extra-man, to get Fairfield within one, 8-7.
The teams traded goals 40 ticks apart early in the fourth quarter, that resulted in a one goal lead, 9-8, for the Bulldogs after Snow netted his final goal of the game. It would be Fairfield's final tally as well, as Yale finished with three unanswered goals.
Snow led the Stags with his hat trick, while Sperry had a goal and four ground balls.
Both teams took 32 shots in the game, but Yale had a 40-26 advantage in ground balls on the afternoon. The Stags were 6-23 at the face-off X in the game.
The Stags open ECAC Lacrosse League play on Thursday with the program's first-ever meeting versus Michigan. The game is set for 7 p.m. on Alumni Field.
