FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Points were at a premium on Saturday afternoon on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium as Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse hosted Rutgers in non-conference action. After a combined 29 saves and 34 turnovers, it was the visiting Scarlet Knights that came away with an 8-4 decision.
 
Fairfield (1-2) was led by freshman James Corasaniti in the cage. The reigning CAA Rookie of the Week made 12 saves for the Stags in addition to two ground balls and a caused turnover. The unit in front of him – captained by starting defensemen Andrew Murrow, George Elmquist and Sean Sweeney – slowed a potent Rutgers attack that came into the day averaging more than 12 goals per game.
 
Other defensive standouts included short-stick midfielder Tyler Wuchte and LSM Jake Tymon, who picked up three and two ground balls, respectively, and each recorded two caused turnovers.
 
"I think we've done a good job defensively the last two games, largely because of James (Corasaniti) who, as a freshman goalie, has done an awfully good job for us," said Fairfield Head Coach Andy Copelan. "If we can continue to do that defensively, then we'll be in every game."
 
Guiding the attack this afternoon was Travis Ford, who netted a pair of fourth-quarter goals to keep the Stags in the hunt. The Stags' defense and midfield play also contributed to the scoring as Frankie Labetti went coast-to-coast after a faceoff win to score his first goal of the season, and Kendall Keahey came up from the defensive midfield to find Brian Reda for a first-half marker.
 
Dylan Beckwith, who entered the day leading the Colonial Athletic Association in points and assists per game, added his eighth helper of the spring today. In doing so, Beckwith extends his team-leading streak to 11 consecutive games with a point dating back to the final eight games of the 2018 campaign.
 
Highlighted by his solo effort to score a goal, Labetti went 6-for-13 at the faceoff X with six ground balls. Liam Lynch came on in relief to win two of his three draws – his first multi-win game as a Stag – as Fairfield and Rutgers split the game's 16 faceoffs with eight wins apiece.
 
"We played very hard; there was no quit in anybody in our locker room. So that's a bit of a silver lining," said Copelan. "But we didn't execute well enough to win today. Seventeen turnovers, seven failed clears and 0-for-3 on the man-up are not a recipe for success."
 
Rutgers (3-2), which is currently unranked but receiving votes in the national polls, was also anchored by outstanding play in the cage. Max Edelmann made 17 saves – matching his season high – to keep the Stags' attack in check.
 
Offensively, the Scarlet Knights were paced by two goals and two assists from Adam Charalambides – the 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year in his last season of action before losing the entirety of 2017 and 2018 to injury. Owen Mead added a hat trick for Rutgers.
 
Today's game started both a three-game homestand and a stretch of five games in 14 days for the Stags. Up next, Fairfield welcomes former MAAC rival Siena on Tuesday, March 5. The Stags and Saints will meet for the first time since 1999 at 3 p.m. with all of the action set for broadcast by the Stags Sports Network on Facebook Live.
 
"Sometimes you go through a tough loss and the best thing is to be able to quickly turn the page and played somebody else in a couple days. So we'll try to take advantage of leading up to Tuesday," Copelan said.