FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Fairfield University men's lacrosse team returns home to Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium to host Drexel on Saturday, April 9. Faceoff for the Colonial Athletic Association contest is set for 3 p.m. as the nightcap of a doubleheader. Both ends of the twin bill will be broadcast on ESPN3 – produced by the Fairfield University Media Center – with J.J. Duke and Ivey Speight on the call.
Gameday Promotions
Saturday is Military Appreciation Day at Rafferty Stadium. All military veterans and active duty military personnel will receive free admission to the game. In addition, limited edition Fairfield Lacrosse apparel will be on sale with proceeds to benefit military charities and organizations.
Fairfield's Last Time Out
Colin Burke had a career day with six points as Fairfield opened CAA action with a 9-8 win at Hofstra last Saturday. Hofstra entered the contest unranked but had risen as high as No. 8 in the polls earlier this spring
Burke netted a hat trick to improve his CAA-leading total to 29 goals, while the second consecutive three-assist game for the freshman improves his point total to 40.
Will Fox led the efforts on the draw with five wins, including the biggest of the day as he claimed possession for the Stags with 30 seconds to play after Hofstra scored to cut the deficit to 9-8.
Defensively, Logan Williamson and Matt Borda each collected three ground balls. Tyler Behring picked up the win in the cage with 13 saves.
Scouting Drexel
After losing an 11-7 decision at Towson last Saturday, the Drexel University Dragons started their CAA slate at 0-1 as a part of a 4-6 overall record. Five of Drexel's six losses have come against USILA nationally-ranked opponents (currently and at the time of the meeting): No. 10 Towson, No. 12 Maryland, No. 13 Virginia, No. 14 Villanova and No. 18 Albany.
2015 Second Team All-CAA selection Cole Shafer leads the Dragons with 19 goals and 25 total points. Two-time CAA Rookie of the Week Matthew Varian has netted 16 goals with six assists, and Marshall King has distributed seven assists to go along with seven goals.
Helming the cage for Drexel is Fairfield County native Jimmy Joe Granito (New Canaan), who has recorded a 10.58 goals-against average and .542 save percentage. He leads the CAA with 12.20 saves per game. The defense in front of Granito is led by 2015 Second Team All-CAA defenseman Miles Thomas.
Stags vs. Dragons
A 7-4 win in the Stags' first CAA game in program history was also Fairfield's first-ever victory over Drexel. In that contest on March 28, 2015 in Philadelphia, TJ Neubauer and Charlie Schnider each netted two goals. For the second straight game, Tyler Behring made 16 saves in the cage while ceding just four goals.
The Dragons lead the all-time series, 3-1, on the heels of wins in each of Fairfield's first three seasons as an NCAA varsity program from 1993-95.
Senior Day
The Stags will close out the regular season home slate next Saturday, April 16 with a 1 p.m. visit from Massachusetts. Fairfield will honor its six-member Class of 2016 prior to faceoff with the Minutemen.
