FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University men's lacrosse team took the field at Rafferty Stadium for the first time on Saturday afternoon, opening the 2015 season against visiting Holy Cross. Before an Opening Day crowd of 2,365, the Stags were clipped by the Crusaders, 10-9, on a goal with 3:40 left to play.

TJ Neubauer scored a game-high four goals for Fairfield (0-1), including three in the second half. The first two goals in Rafferty Stadium history went to Tristan Sperry, who recorded a first-half hat trick for the Stags in addition to two assists. Colin McLinden and Dave Fleming also found the back of the net, with helpers dished out by Drew Federico, Drew Murray and Charlie Schnider.

On the other half of the field, Bryan Barry scooped up four ground balls, and Max Buchanan registered a pair of ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Brad Nordstrom made nine saves between the posts in his collegiate debut.

Louis DiGiacomo and Will Fox share duties in the faceoff 'X' and each posted an above-.500 mark. DiGiacomo went 8-for-14 on faceoffs, and Fox was 5-for-9 in his first game with the Stags.

Holy Cross (1-0) was led by five points from Sean Wilkinson, who scored three goals and distributed two assists. Logan LeBlond and Marc Buermann each scored twice for the Crusaders. Michael Ortlieb made 13 saves, including five in the fourth quarter, in the winning effort for the visitors.

The first goal at Rafferty Stadium came just 72 seconds into the contest when Sperry buried an unassisted marker to stake the Stags to a 1-0 lead. The senior attackman struck again at the 11:17 mark of the opening frame to double the advantage to 2-0.

The Stags extended the lead further when Federico connected with a streaking Fleming for a one-timer that staked Fairfield to a 3-0 edge midway through the opening quarter. Holy Cross would get on the board on Wilkinson's first goal of the day, but Fairfield rebuilt a three-goal margin as McLinden struck at the 5:43 mark with what proved to be the final tally of the opening frame.

It was Wilkinson again who got the Crusaders' offense going with a goal to cut into the lead, but the Stags again responded. This time it was a two-goal spurt as Sperry completed his hat trick and then connected with fellow co-captain Neubauer, who scored his first goal of the season to stretch the edge to 6-2. The Crusaders answered with the final goal of the second frame at the 7:36 mark, as both defenses locked down in the quarter. The first half expired with the Stags doubling-up Holy Cross by a 6-3 count.

In the third quarter, Wilkinson and LeBlond each buried a goal in the opening minutes to trim the Stags' lead to 6-5. At that point, Fairfield capitalized on a man-up situation as Neubauer turned a feed from Schnider into his second goal of the day. After Buermann struck for the Crusaders, another man-up opportunity led to another Stags' marker. Once again it was Neubauer finishing the play on the first assist of Murray's career and extending the Fairfield advantage to 8-6.

However, the Crusaders struck twice in the final ticks of the quarter as Buermann at 1:38 and LeBlond with just five seconds remaining knotted the score at 8-8 heading into the fourth quarter.

Neubauer continued to come through in the clutch for the Stags, as he broke the deadlock at the 13:40 mark of the final quarter. This time, it was Sperry helping out on the goal to complete his five-point performance on Opening Day.

The newly-built 9-8 cushion, however, marked the last goal that the Stags would score on the day. A Clay Haarmann goal at the 6:47 mark tied the score, and Terry McKenna's tally with 3:40 to play gave the Crusaders their first and only lead of the contest at 10-9.

Nordstrom made a pair of key saves down the stretch to keep the Stags within striking distance, but Fairfield was unable to gain another possession on the offensive end as the final seconds expired.

The Stags will now embark on a five-game road swing – the longest stretch of true road games in program history. The trip begins on Tuesday, Feb. 17 with a visit to Providence and will also feature non-conference contests at Manhattan, Stony Brook, Yale and Bucknell. The Stags return to the turf of Rafferty Stadium on Saturday, March 14 for a clash with Colgate.

Tickets for the meeting with the Raiders and all five of the Stags' remaining home contests are available at www.FairfieldStags.com/tix.

About Rafferty Stadium

The Fairfield men's and women's lacrosse teams are celebrating their inaugural seasons at Rafferty Stadium throughout the spring of 2015. The construction of Rafferty Stadium was made possible through the generosity of Fairfield alumni, parents and friends. The stadium is named in recognition of the principal leadership gift from Larry Rafferty '64 and his family, and the field is named in recognition of a gift from Tim Conway '76 and family. Several other locations around the stadium are named to recognize major supporters and contributors to the project, who will be recognized along with additional donors on a plaque located inside the stadium.

Rafferty Stadium seat 3,500 fans in grandstands spanning both sidelines. The FieldTurf playing surface is complemented by state-of-the-art lighting, which provides optimal light levels for both competition and practice, and a Daktronics high-definition video scoreboard. In addition, the stadium includes a terrace level with a fully-enclosed press box that includes a large media suite, two VIP suites and a production suite to support the video capabilities of the scoreboard, television broadcasts, and web streaming. On the ground level are two team rooms, food/beverage and apparel concessions, restrooms, a box office and entry plaza.

Fairfield University will host the official dedication of Rafferty Stadium on Saturday, March 21 as a part of a doubleheader. The Fairfield women's lacrosse team will host Manhattan at 2 p.m. followed by the men's game featuring the Stags and visiting Villanova at 5:30 p.m.