Box Score LEWISBURG, Pa. – Action at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium came down to the final seconds on Tuesday afternoon as the Fairfield University men's lacrosse team was on the short side of a 10-9 decision at Bucknell. Charlie Schnider totaled four points for the Stags in the one-goal defeat.
Schnider scored a goal and dished out three assists for Fairfield (2-4). Tristan Sperry added two goals and an assist to surpass the century mark for his career with 102 points. TJ Neubauer also scored a pair of the Stags to improve his team-leading total to 12 goals on the season.
Adding single tallies for the Stags were Joe Rodrigues, Jake Knostman, Dave Fleming and Conor Dalton.
Knostman also distributed two assists, with helpers also coming off the sticks of Colin McLinden and Drew Federico.
In the midfield, Neubauer collected four ground balls to lead the Stags to a 28-23 advantage in the category. Both faceoff specialists won better than 50 percent of their draws as Will Fox went 7-of-13 and Louis DiGiacomo was 6-of-10 at the 'X'.
Goalkeeper Brad Nordstrom established a new career high with 13 saves and picked up a personal-best three ground balls. The freshman netminder also accounted for one of the Stags' three caused turnovers.
Bucknell (4-2) was led by three goals from Alex Ryan. The eventual game-winner came from the crosse of Ryan Joseph.
Schnider opened the scoring for the Stags with an unassisted marker at 12:38 in the first quarter before Bucknell answered to knot the score at 1-1. At that point, the Stags ran off three straight tallies to take a 4-1 lead midway through the second quarter. Fleming, Dalton and Rodrigues accounted for the finishers with assists racked up by Sperry, Knostman and McLinden.
The Bison ended the run with a Ryan goal with 6:27 left in the second period, but Fairfield answered just 39 seconds later as Neubauer wound up and fired a shot past Bucknell's Sam Grinberg to extend the Stags' lead to 5-2. However, Bucknell scored three times in the final five minutes of the half to send the game into the intermission knotted up at 5-5.
The hosts stretched their run to four straight goals, netting the first marker of the second half to claim a 6-5 edge. But in a matter of less than two minutes, the Stags capitalized on a pair of man-up situations to retake the lead at 7-6. Sperry finished off both goals courtesy of assists by Schnider and Knostman.
At that point, it was Bucknell's turn to rattle off a pair with Ryan and Doyle burying shots to claim an 8-7 lead. Playing from behind once again, Fairfield got the equalizer in the final minute of the third quarter. Knostman took a feed from Schnider and bounced one home to tie the game at 8-8 heading into the fourth frame.
The Bison struck first in the final stanza on an unassisted Doyle goal with 10:14 to play. The advantage held to just past the midway point, while Federico found Neubauer, who rocketed home his second goal of the day to tie the score for the sixth and final time at 9-9 with 7:27 remaining.
Nordstrom made three saves to preserve the tie during the ensuing stretch of action before Joseph sent home a marker with 1:51 to play to give the lead back to Bucknell at 10-9. Trailing by a single goal in the final minute, Fairfield had several scoring opportunities but was unable to convert as time expired.
Grinberg – the reigning Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week – was pulled in the second quarter after ceding five goals while making four saves in 24:53 of action. Brac McKee took over in net for the Bison and earned the win with six saves to his credit.
All four of the Stags' losses have come by a single goal, including Saturday's overtime defeat at No. 6 Yale. Fairfield has recorded wins over Providence and Manhattan during the non-conference portion of the schedule.
Today's game concludes a three-game road trip for the Stags. Fairfield returns to Rafferty Stadium on Saturday, March 14 to meet another Patriot League foe as Colgate comes to town for a 1 p.m. contest.
