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The Fairfield University men's lacrosse team travels to #1 Denver for an ECAC Lacrosse League contest Saturday at 3 p.m. eastern time. The Stags are 7-5 overall and 3-2 in ECAC play, while the Pioneers are 10-2 on the season and 5-0 in league play.
It is just the second time in program history that the Stags have faced an opponent that is ranked first in the national polls. Fairfield took on Loyola on March 19, 1999 when the Greyhounds were #1 in the country and lost 19-4. The Stags highest ranked win came in 2010 when they defeated #3 Notre Dame 10-8 in Houston, Texas.
The Stags secured a non-losing season for the fourth consecutive season with the 9-8 win over Air Force on Saturday. Fairfield has had success in tight games in the five seasons that Andy Copelan has been at the helm. Copelan coached Stag teams are 29-13 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 15-9 in games decided by a single tally.
Fairfield and Denver are meeting for the 10th time, all as conference foes in either the ECAC or Great West Lacrosse League. The Stags won the last meeting, 9-8, last season on Lessing Field in overtime. It was the Stags fourth victory in the series and the first since 2005 or as members of the ECAC. The Pioneers defeated the Stags in consecutive weeks in 2011, 11-5 in the regular season finale and 11-9 in the ECAC Championship Game. The series between the two squads began in 2001 with a 13-11 Fairfield win at home. The Stags won the next year as well, 12-11, for their only road win in the series. Denver earned its first win in 2003, 16-9 and won in 2004 by the same score. The Stags won 9-8 in 2005 in the last GWLL meeting and then fell by the same score in 2010 when the series resumed with Denver joined the ECAC.
The Stags have two games remaining (Denver and Ohio State) and qualify for the ECAC Lacrosse League championship, May 2-4 at Hobart College, with a win in either game. If the Stags end up in a tie with Bellarmine, which has finished its league schedule at 3-4, the Knights would earn the fourth-spot on the strength of a head-to-head victory. Fairfield, Bellarmine and Hobart could all end up tied at 3-4 in league play in which case the tie would be broken based on RPI, per the league tiebreaking policy, as no other step in the process would separate the three teams.
Jordan Greenfield scored four times, including the game-winner, in the Stags win over Air Force and earned his second NEILA Player of the Week award as a result. It was his sixth multi-goal game and third game-winner, of the season. The team's leader in goals, 27, and points, 34, Greenfield has scored a point in every game this season and has a goal in all but one of the 12 games. Greenfield ranks 38th in the nation with his 2.25 goals per game and is 70th best in the country at 2.83 points per game. He picked up 25 ground balls, eight in the last three games, and caused three turnovers on the year. Greenfield earned his first NELIA Player of the Week award for his four goal effort at Bryant.
Fairfield is 2-3 on the road this season and closes with a pair of road games. The Stags average 9.0 goals per game away from home, with a season-high 13 in the win at Hobart. Opponents are scoring 10.2 goals per game when the Stags visit, with only Bryant, eight, not reaching double digits. Sam Snow is the Stags offensive leader on the road with seven goals, the same number that Greenfield has, and 11 points. Colin McLinden has a team-best five assists in his road uniform. Jack Murphy has 50 saves and 25 ground balls on the road, while Michael Roe has 38 face-off wins and 21 ground balls.
Over the first seven games of the year the Stags won just 37.2 percent (54-145) at the face-off X. In only one of those games, Hofstra, did the Stags have a positive winning percentage, going 8-14, and reached double digit wins (11) just once, versus UMBC. Over the last five games the Stags have more than doubled their win total, with 62, and are winning at a clip of 55.92 percent, 62-111, with at least 11 wins in four of those games. Michael Roe moved into third all-time in face-off wins on Saturday, passing Matt Donohue (1999-2002) and has 261 for his time at Fairfield.
Jack Murphy had his sixth game of a dozen or more saves in earning the win over Air Force on Saturday. He is 23rd nationally at 11.25 saves per game and has stopped double-digit shots in eight of the Stags games this spring. Murphy has played every second in cage, 720, and is 22nd in GAA, 9.33, and 23rd in save percentage, 54.7 percent. He has also picked up two or more ground balls in every game this spring and leads the squad with 53, 4.42 a game, which is 46th in the nation. Murphy was named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Week in each of the first two weeks of the conference award program.
Denver has won five consecutive games, three by only one goal, and is 10-2 on the year. The Pioneers are averaging 13 goals per game, led by the 35 tallies of Wesley Berg. Eric Las has a team-best 50 points, with 23 assists to his credit. The Pioneers have two face-off men that have won more than 70 face-offs, with Chase Carraro going 71-127 (56%) and Chace Calkin at 73-158 (46%). Carraro has a team-best 39 ground balls for the Pioneers and has also tallied three points. Denver is allowing 9.67 goals per game to its opponents, with Kyle Hercher leading the team with 13 caused turnovers. Ryan LaPlante has played the most, 444 minutes, and has 96 saves and a 9.73 GAA. Jamie Faus has played 268 minutes in eight games and has stopped 56 shots and has a 9.62 GAA.
