FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse hits the road for the first time in a month this Saturday afternoon for a visit to #7/8 Villanova. Opening faceoff at Villanova Stadium is slated for 3:30 p.m.
Fairfield's Last Time Out
Colin Burke matched his career high with seven points to lead the Stags to a 12-8 win over visiting NJIT on Tuesday afternoon. Burke,
Joe Rodrigues and
Taylor Strough all netted hat tricks for Fairfield in the victory.
Charlie Horning and
Drew Murray added single goals for Fairfield. Murray,
Dylan Beckwith and
Will Fox each dished out an assist, and
Jack Brennan factored into the scoring for the fifth straight game with a pair of helpers.
In addition to notching his first career assist,
Will Fox helped keep the offense on the field with a 15-for-21 performance at the faceoff X.
Defensively,
Sean McKee made nine saves in the cage to earn the win. The group in front of him was led by
J.B. Smith,
George Elmquist and
Nick Panara, along with
Jake Tymon and
Spencer Noonan at the LSM spot.
Adam Riestis,
Samuel Murphy and
Kendall Keahey pitched in as short-stick middies as the Stags limited an opponent to single-digit goals for the fourth time this season.
Climbing the Charts
Colin Burke's seven-point day in the win over NJIT matched his previous career high attained twice in 2016 en route to CAA Rookie and co-Player of the Year honors. In Tuesday's effort, Burke scored four goals and tied another personal standard with three assists. Six of his points came in the first half as the Stags built the 8-3 halftime advantage that carried them to victory. In the midst of his junior campaign,
Colin Burke has risen to 10th in Fairfield history with 82 career goals. He also ranks 10th on the career points list with 127.
Scouting Villanova
The #7/8 Villanova Wildcats have established themselves as a top-10 squad in both major national polls with a 6-2 record. Villanova owns marquee victories over Penn State and Yale with its setbacks coming at the hands of Brown and #2/2 Maryland.
The Wildcats' offense is led by 22 goals and 29 total points from 2017 First Team All-Big East attackman Christian Cuccinello with Dany Seibel adding 16 goals. Keegan Khan is the club's top facilitator with nine assists.
Dan Fisher has handled the majority of the faceoffs en route to a .529 win percentage (73-for-138) with 27 ground balls. Luke Palamdesso supplements the effort with a .511 (24-for-47) mark on the draw.
The cage is patrolled by Nick Testa, who has seen 466 minutes in goal. Testa boasts a .490 save percentage and 9.91 goals-against average. TJ Comizio guides the defense from the midfield with 29 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers.
Fairfield vs. Ranked Opponents
The March 10 loss to #10/11 Yale was Fairfield's second meeting this spring with a nationally-ranked opponent. The Stags previously fell to #13/15 Rutgers on Feb. 24. Vermont and Penn State have also been ranked in 2018 but were unranked at the time of their visits to Rafferty Stadium.
The Stags' last win over a team ranked as high as Villanova (#7) in the USILA Coaches' Poll was a 10-9 overtime victory at #1 Denver on April 20, 2013.
Following last April's win over #15 Towson, Fairfield has defeated at least one ranked opponent in eight of
Andy Copelan's nine prior seasons at the helm of the Stags. The 2017 Tigers were also the third team defeated by Copelan's Stags in a season in which they reached the Final Four (Notre Dame in 2010, Denver in 2013).
All-Time Series vs. Villanova (Villanova leads 6-3)
Saturday marks the 10th all-time meeting between the Stags and Wildcats. Villanova has won the last two encounters to build a 6-3 lead in the series. Fairfield's last victory over the Wildcats was an 11-4 win on Rafferty Stadium Dedication Day in 2015.
Up Next
Fairfield opens CAA action at Delaware with a noon faceoff on Saturday, March 31. The Stags will also visit Hofstra before returning to Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium to host Drexel on Saturday, April 14 at noon as the front-end of the annual Fairfield Lacrosse Military Appreciation Day doubleheader.
