FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Faced with an 11-9 deficit in the fourth quarter on Tuesday, Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse scored the game's final five goals to knock off visiting Merrimack, 14-11, on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium.
 
"Winning is hard to come by," said Head Coach Andrew Baxter. "You've got to be ready to play every opponent. We still have things to work on in every part of the game, but I'm proud of the way we gutted it out and came away with the win today."
 
Fairfield is 2-0 on the season following the victory over the reigning back-to-back NCAA Division II National Champions. Merrimack falls to 0-3 in its first campaign at the Division I level.
 
The Stags' attack was led by Brian Reda, who ran the offense to the tune of six assists in addition to one goal of his own. Reda's six assists were one shy of Troy Bamann's program record (7 vs. Holy Cross, 2/24/2001) and the first six-assist day since Colin McLinden had a half-dozen helpers in a win over Yale during the 2014 campaign.
 
Just hours after being named the CAA co-Player of the Week, Dylan Beckwith continued his hot start to the 2020 season with four goals and two assists. Beckwith, who extended his point scoring streak to 24 straight outings, has tallied 14 points through the Stags' first two games of his senior year.
 
Fellow senior Travis Ford also had a four-goal day, including the fourth-quarter rip that stood up as the game-winner with 6:47 to go. Bryce Ford added his second three-point showing in as many games as a Stag with one goal and two assists, while Patrick Drake notched the reverse statline with two scores and one helper.
 
Rounding out the offense was Taylor Strough with two goals, including an insurance goal on the man-up late in the fourth quarter.
 
Frankie Labetti did his part to keep Fairfield on the attack with a 15-of-27 performance at the faceoff X. Labetti also nabbed nine ground balls.
 
Merrimack was powered by the 2018 and 2019 USILA Division II National Player of the Year, Charlie Bertrand. Bertrand finished the day with three goals and three assists, but was limited by the Stags defense to just one assist in the second half and racking up five points over the contest's opening 30 minutes.
 
"We weren't executing the game plan in the first half; we slipped on a couple details and he was able to get free and score," said Baxter of his team's performance against the Warriors' high-scoring attackman. "We did a much better job of containing him in the second half. Lucas (Pedersen) really battled with him all game and did a great job."
 
Pedersen had a pair of caused turnovers to lead the back row, and Brian Cosgrove picked up four ground balls. James Corasaniti made eight saves in the cage to go along with four ground balls and a caused turnover. The Fairfield defensive unit also held Merrimack to an 0-for-5 day on extra-man opportunities. The Warriors entered the game at 6-for-6 playing man-up this spring.
 
Up next, Fairfield takes its first road trip and challenges its first nationally-ranked foe of the 2020 campaign with a visit to #14/14 Georgetown. The Hoyas are 2-0 this spring with a pair of convincing road wins at Lafayette and UMBC.
 
"We still need to keep getting better every day," noted Baxter. "We have a couple big days of practice coming before Georgetown then a full week of practice next week that are going to be huge for us as far as continuing to get better."
 
Action is back on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium on the following Saturday, Feb. 29 for a 1 p.m. clash with in-state foe Quinnipiac.