The Fairfield University men's lacrosse team continues its homestand at Rafferty Stadium with a Saturday afternoon visit from Delaware. The Stags' penultimate Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) contest is slated for 1 p.m.
Fairfield (7-5, 2-1 CAA) most recently saw its five-game winning streak come to an end and took its first CAA defeat as then-No. 16 Towson claimed an 8-7 decision on Saturday, April 11. The visiting Blue Hens (4-9, 0-3 CAA) remain winless in league play following an overtime loss at Drexel last weekend.
Fairfield's Last Time Out: No. 20 Fairfield trimmed a three-goal deficit to just one in the fourth quarter of the Saturday CAA clash with No. 16 Towson, but the visiting Tigers held off the Stags to claim an 8-7 decision at Rafferty Stadium.
The Stags' seven goals came from Charlie Schnider, Dave Fleming, Joe Rodrigues, Tristan Sperry, Colin McLinden, TJ Neubauer and Jake Knostman. Fairfield also got assists from Neubauer, McLinden, Sperry and Drew Federico.
Will Fox went 8-for-16 at the faceoff 'X' to keep the Stags' offense on the field. The three-time CAA Rookie of the Week also collected six ground balls off of draws in the midfield.
Goalkeeper Tyler Behring made nine saves for Fairfield. Also on the defensive end, Matt Borda and Conor Barr each caused two Towson turnovers.
Leading the way for the Tigers were Max Siskind with two goals and Tyler White with 12 saves between the posts.
Scouting Delaware: Looking to put the brakes on a four-game losing streak, the Delaware Blue Hens enter the weekend with a record of 4-9 overall and 0-3 in the CAA after a 9-8 overtime loss at Drexel this past Saturday.
Scoring in double figures has been one of the common denominators throughout the Blue Hens' 2015 schedule. Delaware has scored 10 or more goals in all four its victories and has been limited to fewer than 10 goals in all but one of its losses. On the season as a whole, the Blue Hens are scoring 8.85 goals and allowing 10.69 goals per contest.
Brian Kormondy paces the Delaware offense with 34 points by way of 20 goals and 14 assists despite leading the team in neither scoring category. Tom Holland has sent home a team-best 24 goals with Beau Jones dishing out a team-leading 15 helpers to go along with his 16 goals.
Brett Anton owns a 9.43 goals-against average and a .527 save percentage as the Blue Hens' primary goalkeeper.
In addition to the CAA schedule, Fairfield and Delaware have both challenged Bucknell, Villanova, Holy Cross and Manhattan this spring. Both clubs topped the Jaspers, then met different results against the rest of their common foes.
The Blue Hens lead the all-time series, 3-2. After wins against the Stags in 1995, 1996 and 1998, Delaware has dropped the last two meetings with Fairfield. The Stags won a 10-9 contest at Delaware to open the 2009 season in Andy Copelan's first game as head coach at Fairfield. The teams last met in Fairfield's 2014 season opener, with the Stags claiming an 18-8 decision.
Defense Does It: A common thread among the Stags' seven victories this spring has been keeping their opponents off the board for an extended stretch of time. Fairfield's defense has registered a scoreless quarter in five contests, and all 12 foes to date have been limited to one goal or fewer in at least one quarter of action against the Stags.
Most notably, Fairfield held No. 20 Villanova scoreless for 40:43 of game time - a span that included the entirety of both the second and third quarters - in an 11-4 win.
Regular Season Finale: The Stags conclude their three-game homestand and wrap-up the regular season on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium with a visit from CAA preseason favorite Hofstra on Friday, April 24 under the lights at 7 p.m.
