BALTIMORE – The Fairfield University men's lacrosse team has been selected to finish second in the Colonial Athletic Association in a preseason preview of the conference by Sean Burns of Lacrosse Magazine. Senior midfielder TJ Neubauer was also tabbed by Burns as one of the CAA's “Three Player to Watch”.

The reigning CAA regular season champions are slotted second behind Towson, which won the CAA Championship and an NCAA Play-In Game last spring. Drexel, Hofstra, Massachusetts and Delaware round out the Lacrosse Magazine projection.

Individually, Neubauer is singled out as a “Player to Watch” alongside Hofstra's Sam Llinares and Towson's Tyler White – the returning CAA Player and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively.

Also a Preseason All-America Honorable Mention from Inside Lacrosse, Neubauer earned First Team All-CAA and First Team All-New England honors in 2015 after heading the offense as the Stags' leading scorer for the second straight season. The two-year captain scored 31 goals last season to move into ninth place on the Stags' all-time list with 78 career markers, handed out three assists and ranked second on the team – behind faceoff specialist Will Fox – with 49 ground balls.

Junior goalkeeper Tyler Behring also received praise from Lacrosse Magazine, with Burns noting that his 6.32 goals-against average and .624 save percentage both would have led the nation had the CAA Second Team selection met the NCAA minimum (60 percent of team's minutes) last spring.

Neubauer and Behring are two of 27 returning student-athletes from the 2015 squad that won the CAA regular season title and merited a USILA national ranking for the fourth consecutive campaign. Head Coach Andy Copelan and his staff will also incorporate 15 newcomers into the fold this spring.