Box Score
The #20 Fairfield University men's lacrosse team dropped a 14-8 decision to #13 Ohio State in ECAC Lacrosse League play in Columbus, Ohio. The Stags drop to 8-6 on the year and 4-3 in ECAC play, while the Buckeyes improve to 10-3 overall and 5-2 in league play.
Fairfield went over 17 minutes without scoring a goal from late in the first quarter until early in the third quarter, while Ohio State scored four times to build a 6-3 lead 66 seconds into the second half on a Carter Brown goal. Jordan Greenfield answered quickly, 44 seconds later, to end the Stags drought and begin a four-goal run for the Stags.
TJ Neubauer scored his second of the game with 10:36 to play in the quarter, putting home a pass from Colin McLinden to get the Stags within a tally, 6-5. Tristan Sperry brought Fairfield even just over two minutes later, collecting a rebound of a Greenfield shot and put it home for the 6-6 tie. It was Greenfield that put the Stags back in front, 7-6, with 5:23 to play in the quarter, coming from behind the cage to score his third of the game.
Ohio State took over the game at that point, evening the score with 3:13 to play in the third quarter when Adam Trombley scored. David Planning put the Buckeyes back in front 1:15 into the fourth quarter as Ohio State scored eight consecutive goals to pull away for the victory. Greenfield wrapped up the scoring with 19 seconds left, netting a Nick Guida pass.
Greenfield scored four times to pace the Stags, one of three players to finish with three points on the day. Neubauer had two goals and an assist, while Sam Snow scored once and handed out two assist. Michael Roe was 12-23 at the face-off X for the Stags, picking up a game-high seven ground balls. Jack Murphy finished the game with eight saves and a ground ball.
Ohio State had six players with multiple points in the game, led by the three goals and assist of Turner Evans. Greg Dutton made 15 saves in net for the Buckeyes to earn the win, allowing seven goals. Trey Wilkes went 11-23 at the face-off X with four ground balls in the game.
After the teams played scoreless through the nearly half of the first quarter Turner scored unassisted with 7:54 to play in the period to give Ohio State a 1-0 lead. Greenfield answered for the Stags 64 seconds later, netting a pass from Sam Snow, a tie that lasted until Logan Schuss scored with 5:13 to play to give Ohio State a 2-1 advantage. Neubauer scored his first of the game, unassisted with 3:28 to play to knot the score, and then fed Snow with seven ticks left to give Fairfield a 3-2 lead at the end of the quarter.
Ohio State scored the only goals of the second-quarter with the first coming from Dominique Alexander from a Jesse King pass with 7:40 to play in the first-half, to tie the score 3-3. Schuss put Ohio State back in front, 4-3, with an unassisted goal at the 5:46 and King wrapped up the scoring in the period with a tally with 4:08 remaining in the half for a 5-3 halftime advantage.
The loss drops the Stags to the fourth-seed in the upcoming ECAC Lacrosse League Championship at Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y. Fairfield will play the top-seed, which is Denver if it defeats Michigan today, or Loyola if Denver loses, semifinals, while Ohio State will be the third-seed for Thursday's semifinals. All three games of the ECAC Tournament will be available on Fox College Sports and Fuel TV, with the Championship Game being played Saturday.
