FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A five-goal third quarter proved to be the difference as the Fairfield University men's lacrosse team was clipped by No. 18 Stony Brook, 9-6, on Saturday afternoon on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium. TJ Neubauer netted a hat trick for the Stags, and Tyler Behring made 12 saves.
In addition to the 11th hat trick of Neubauer's career, Fairfield (1-4) benefitted offensively from two Colin Burke goals and a Joe Rodrigues marker. Charlie Horning dished out an assist for the Stags.
Behring made 12 saves to helm the defensive side of the field. Spencer Noonan scooped up three ground balls in front the junior goalkeeper, and J.B. Smith had five ground balls in the midfield with a caused turnover.
At the faceoff 'X', Will Fox posted a 7-for-15 mark and Joe DeLasho won two of his three draws attempted. Fox also gathered a trio of ground balls.
Stony Brook (3-1) started the contest with an Alex Corpolongo marker, but the Stags responded with the next three tallies. After Burke evened the score, Neubauer followed his own miss with a quick scoop-and-score to put Fairfield in front, 2-1. Joe Rodrigues then wrapped around the cage and tallied his sixth goal of the spring to end the first quarter with the Stags holding a 3-1 edge.
Neubauer struck again early in the second period to extend the margin to 4-1, but the Seawolves' Matt Schultz answered less than a minute later. Neither team would find the back of the net for the final 12:28 of the frame as the Stags carried a 4-2 advantage into the intermission.
In total, the scoreless drought on both sides spanned 19:52 of clock time. Stony Brook ended the spell with a Corpolongo marker and struck again 61 seconds later – this time on a Ryan Bitzer tally – to knot the contest at 4-4 at the 6:35 mark of the third frame.
Fairfield responded again as Neubauer converted a Horning feed to round out his hat trick and stake the Stags to a 5-4 lead. However, two Stony Brook goals in 14 seconds gave the nationally-ranked visitors a lead that they would not relinquish at 6-5. The Seawolves added another marker in the closing minute of the third to carry a 7-5 advantage into the final quarter.
Stony Brook's run was capped at four straight goals with a Justin Pugal tally with 8:45 to go. Burke ended the run with his second goal of the day – and team-leading 10th of the season – but Fairfield would not score again. Jeff Reh tacked on an insurance goal for the Seawolves and neither team would score over the final 7:05 as the 9-6 tally held up as final.
Corpolongo, Schultz and Bitzer each scored two goals for Stony Brook. Zach Oliveri started in goal and made three saves for the Seawolves. Brandon Maciejewski worked the second half in the cage, stopping six Fairfield shots to earn the win.
The Stags will now make their longest road trip of the season, traveling to Washington, D.C. to challenge Georgetown on Tuesday, March 8. Faceoff from the nation's capital is slated for 3 p.m.
The Hoyas defeated No. 8 Hofstra on Saturday, 11-6, to improve to 1-3 on the season following losses to a formidable trio of early season opponents: then-No. 1 Notre Dame, then-No. 13 Towson and Mount St. Mary's.
Fairfield's next game on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium is a 1 p.m. visit from No. 6 Yale on Saturday, March 12. The action will be broadcast live on SportsNet New York (SNY) and ESPN3.
