RICHMOND, Va. – Will Fox was named the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Year as 11 members of the No. 19 Fairfield University men's lacrosse team were recognized on the All-CAA Teams. Head Coach Andy Copelan was chosen as the Coach of the Year after leading the Stags to the CAA regular season championship in their first season as members of the conference.
Fairfield, which hosts the CAA Championship this weekend, tied with Hofstra and Towson with a conference-best three First Team All-CAA honorees. The Stags nabbed a league-best eight total All-CAA honors in addition to three All-Rookie nods (tying Drexel for the CAA-high) and an All-Academic Team selection.
"Having this number of All-CAA selections, and having a representative from every position, exemplifies the type of balance that we have,” said Copelan. “All of our honorees would tell you that these awards belong to the entire team. We have come a long way from our 2-4 start, and I'm remarkably proud of our guys for that.”
Fox, who was selected as Second Team All-CAA and a member of the CAA All-Rookie Team in addition to his Rookie of the Year nod, ranks among the conference and national leaders as a faceoff specialist. The five-time CAA Rookie of the Week owns a win percentage of .576 (106-of-184) at the faceoff 'X', slotting him at second in CAA and 15th nationally. His average of 3.43 ground balls per contest ranks him fifth in the CAA and 65th among all Division I players. In the Stags' five CAA outings, Fox won 43-of-73 (.589) draws and scooped up an average of five ground balls per game.
Seventh-year head coach Andy Copelan earns his first Coach of the Year honor as leader of the Stags and the second of his career; Copelan was previously named MAAC Coach of the Year as head coach at Marist College in 2004. This spring, Copelan guided Fairfield to a record of 9-5 overall and 4-1 in the CAA en route to the Stags' second straight regular season title (2014 ECAC Lacrosse League). Under his leadership, Fairfield also garnered a USILA national ranking for the fourth consecutive season and, after besting then-No. 20 Villanova on March 21 at Rafferty Stadium, the Stags have knocked off a nationally-ranked opponent in all seven of his campaigns at the helm. Copelan, who has never closed a season with a sub-.500 record overall or in conference play, is 64-40 at Fairfield and 82-55 as a head coach overall.
Three Stags – all co-captains of the 2015 club – earned First Team All-CAA recognition at three different positions. Heading the list is senior attackman Tristan Sperry, Fairfield's leading scorer in 2015. A First Team All-ECAC honoree last spring, Sperry has scored 20 goals and handed out a team-leading 23 assists to account for his 43 points. He adds 33 ground balls and three caused turnovers. Against CAA competition, Sperry scored five goals – including the double-overtime game-winner against Delaware on April 18 and doled out eight assists.
For his career, Sperry ranks ninth all-time in the Fairfield record books with 124 points and sits seventh in assists with 53. His 71 career goals are two short of the all-time top-10 in Stags' history.
Junior midfielder TJ Neubauer adds a First Team All-CAA nod to his career résumé, which also includes 2014 First Team All-ECAC and All-NEILA laurels. An Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America Honorable Mention and Preseason All-CAA selection this spring, Neubauer has been Fairfield's leading goal scorer for the second straight campaign with 29 markers. He has also distributed three assists and ranks second on the team behind Fox with 44 ground balls. Neubauer scored 10 goals in CAA action.
With his senior campaign still ahead of him, Neubauer already ranks ninth in Fairfield history with 76 career goals.
Rounding out Fairfield's First Team All-CAA honoree is senior defenseman Max Buchanan. A Preseason All-CAA pick, Buchanan adds the first postseason all-conference honor of his career after starting all 14 games to date for the nation's second-ranked scoring defense with 7.36 goals allowed per game. Buchanan has grabbed 27 ground balls this spring with eight caused turnovers.
The Stags placed five student-athletes, including Fox at faceoff specialist, on the All-CAA Second Team. Up front, senior attackman Colin McLinden picks up the third all-conference nod of his career. The two-time All-ECAC selection, who was also a USILA All-America Honorable Mention in 2014 and an Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-America Honorable Mention this season, has scored 12 goals and doled out 20 assists in 2015. McLinden scored eight points with four goals and four assists in the Stags' five CAA contests.
After tallying at least one point in every game this spring, McLinden continues to climb the charts in Fairfield's career record books. He is currently tied for sixth all-time with 139 career points and slots third all-time with 87 career assists.
A newcomer to the Fairfield lineup, junior Charlie Schnider earns Second Team All-CAA honors in the Stags' midfield. The transfer from Ohio State totaled 17 goals and 13 assists this season, including a run of 11 straight games with a goal from February 18 to April 11. Schnider also grabbed 11 ground balls with three caused turnovers.
Conor Barr is another first-time honoree for the Stags as a long stick midfielder. Barr collects Second Team All-CAA laurels on the heels of collecting 22 ground balls with 11 caused turnovers as a part of Fairfield's defensive effort.
The Stags' starting goalkeeper for the last seven contests, including all five CAA games, Tyler Behring adds Second Team All-CAA honors to a season that has previously included NCAA.com Division I Defensive Player of the Week, Inside Lacrosse Player of the Week and CAA Player of the Week honors. In a total of 443:22 between the posts, Behring owns a 5.95 goals-against average and .645 save percentage in addition to 18 ground balls and three caused turnovers.
As the CAA Rookie of the Year, Fox also heads the list of All-Rookie Team honorees. He is joined by classmates Jesse Gwozdz and Joe Rodrigues. Gwozdz has appeared in all 14 games in the defensive midfield, collecting two ground balls with four caused turnovers. Rodrigues took the field as an attack in all 14 contests, including seven starts, and racked up 11 goals and two assists.
Senior midfielder Drew Federico is Fairfield's representative on the CAA All-Academic Team. The Finance major and co-captain of the 2015 Stags has registered eight goals and nine assists along with 13 ground balls this spring.
In addition to Fox and Copelan, the CAA's major awards went to Player of the Year Sam Llinares from Hofstra and Defensive Player of the Year Tyler White from Towson.
After securing the outright regular season title in the CAA, Fairfield will be the top seed and host for the upcoming CAA Championship. The semifinal round of the championship will be held on Thursday, April 30 at Rafferty Stadium followed by the CAA Championship Game on Saturday, May 2.
Fairfield will meet fourth-seeded Massachusetts in a Thursday semifinal at 7 p.m. The Stags defeated the Minutemen, 10-9, on April 4 in Amherst. The first semifinal features second-seeded Drexel and third-seeded Towson meeting at 4 p.m. The Dragons hosted and topped the Tigers, 11-10, last Saturday to complete the CAA regular season slate.
