FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- Coming off of a pair of comeback home wins, Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse hits the road on Saturday for a 3 p.m. visit to Harvard. A win on Saturday would mark Fairfield's best six-game start since the 2012 team opened its campaign at 7-0. The Stags have also scored 12+ goals in five straight games, and have not reached a dozen in six consecutive contests since the 1998 MAAC and ECAC Championship season.
Last Time Out
For the second consecutive game, Fairfield headed into the locker room trailing its opponent. And for the second consecutive game, the Stags responded with 13 second-half goals to come away with a home win. On Tuesday, the opposition was visiting LIU as Fairfield turned an 8-6 deficit into a 19-15 victory.
Dylan Beckwith continued to lead the attack, netting four goals with three assists for a seven-point day.
Bryce Ford reached a new career high with four goals and doled out an assist for a five points.
Taylor Strough was the third Stag with a four-goal day.
James Corasaniti made 13 saves in the cage to earn the win. He made four of his stops in the fourth quarter.
Scouting Harvard
The Harvard Crimson are 1-2 on the season after playing a trio of one-goal games: A 10-9 win at then-#19 UMass, a 9-8 loss at Holy Cross and, most recently, a 15-14 victory at Albany. The Crimson, who are led by first-year Head Coach Gerry Byrne, went 5-8 overall and 1-5 in the Ivy League last spring.
2019 All-Ivy Honorable Mention Kyle Anderson and Austin Madronic have paced the Harvard attack in 2020. Anderson has netted four goals with a team-high five assists, while Madronic has scored a club-leading six goals to go along with three helpers. Ryan Graff (4g, 2a) rounds out the starting attack and Nick Loring (2g, 4a) leads all Crimson midfielders with six points apiece.
Faceoff duties have been shared by 2019 All-Ivy Honorable Mention Steven Cuccurullo (14-47, .298) and Kyle Massimilian (16-25, .640). Collectively, the Harvard faceoff men are winning draws at a 40.5% clip (30-74).
All 180 minutes in the cage have gone to Kyle Mullin, who owns a .577 save percentage (33 goals, 45 saves) and an 11.00 goals-against average. The defense in front of him is led by six caused turnovers and five ground balls for Beau Botkiss, and four caused turnovers and seven ground balls corralled by David Strupp.
All-Time Series
The Stags are 6-4 all-time against Harvard. The series was played annually from 1999-2008 and has been dormant since, with the Crimson getting the most recent win. The home team is 9-1 overall with Fairfield's 7-5 win in Cambridge in 2006 as the only aberration.
Beckwith Climbing the Charts
Dylan Beckwith has picked up where he left off in his historic 65 point campaign last spring, racking up a total of 30 points through the Stags' first five games. Beckwith currently leads the CAA with 3.60 goals per game and 6.00 points per game, while his 2.40 assists per outing slot him at third in the conference. His point total also ranks seventh in the nation.
With a seven-point day this past Tuesday against LIU, Beckwith became on the fourth Stag to reach 150 career points as well as the third with both 70 career goals and 70 career assists. He ranks fourth in program history in assists (77) and has shared 12th place in goals (73).
Points are Plentiful
Through five games, Fairfield owns the highest-scoring offense in the CAA. The Stags lead the conference in scoring offense (16.40), points per game (26.80), assists per game (10.40) and shot percentage (.363). The Stags also rank among the top 11 teams nationally in all of those categories.
Fairfield has scored at least 12 goals in each of its first five games. The Stags last netted a dozen in five consecutive outings during the 1998 MAAC and ECAC Championship season.
Up Next
This week, the Stags remain on the road to visit Siena on Tuesday, March 10. The Saints, who will travel to St. John's this weekend, are currently 2-2 this season. Fairfield returns home to Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium to host Providence on Tuesday, March 17 at 7 p.m.
