FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Four student-athletes and a former head coach from Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse have been chosen to represent the Stags on the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) 40th Anniversary Team. All five honorees are also members of the Fairfield Athletics Hall of Fame.
Fairfield competed in the MAAC in men's lacrosse from 1996-99. Over that period, the Stags went 30-2 against conference foes with three MAAC Championships (1996-98) as well as a pair of ECAC Tournament crowns. Fairfield Men's Lacrosse currently competes as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association.
Matt Callaghan (1995-98)
Matt Callaghan was the offensive catalyst for three straight MAAC Championship teams from 1996-98 - the Stags' first three campaign as members of the conference. Callaghan's teams went 24-0 against MAAC foes and added an ECAC Championship in 1998 to cap his career. Fairfield's all-time leading scorer with 247 career points, Callaghan racked up 205 of those points in his three seasons as a MAAC competitor, netting at least 65 points in each of those campaigns. Callaghan shares the Fairfield single-season record with 75 points in 1997 and also has a pair of 40+ goal seasons to his credit. He was a three-time All-MAAC honoree and was named MAAC Player of the Year in 1996 and 1998.
J.T. Groarke (1996-99)
J.T. Groarke tallied 225 points in his Hall of Fame career, including a program-record 119 assists to go along with 106 goals. He topped 50 points in three separate seasons, including a 40-goal, 33-assist campaign in 1997. Groarke is the only Stag with multiple 30-assist seasons, handing out at least 27 helpers in all four of his years at Fairfield. He was the 1996 MAAC Rookie of the Year, a 1997 All-MAAC honoree and MVP of the 1998 ECAC Tournament.
Sam Peterson (1994-97)
While he spent only the final two years of his career as a MAAC student-athlete, Sam Peterson was a four-year standout in the cage for the Stags. He is Fairfield's all-time leader with 1077 saves and a .634 career save percentage. His 1,077 saves, 19.58 career saves per game, and 25.64 saves per game in 1994 are all NCAA Division I records that still stand today. Peterson was the 1997 MAAC Goalkeeper of the Year after guiding Fairfield defensively in an unbeaten trip through the conference.
Spencer Steele (1997-2000)
The all-time leading goal scorer in Fairfield history with 147 tallies, Spencer Steele also handed out 63 assists in his career to rank third all-time with 210 points as a Stag. He shares the single-season points record with 75 points in 1999, including a program-best 48 goals. Steele scored 38 or more goals in each of his three years as a MAAC competitor, also topping 50 points in each campaign. Fairfield's first-ever Major League Lacrosse draft pick (in the 2001 MLL Inaugural Draft), Steele was the 1999 MAAC Player of the Year, and two-time All-New England First Team honoree and MVP of the 1999 ECAC Tournament.
Head Coach Ted Spencer
Ted Spencer was a three-time MAAC Champion and the 1996 MAAC Coach of the Year, amassing a 40-25 (.615) overall and 30-2 (.938) conference mark during his tenure as a MAAC head coach (1996-99). Spencer also led Fairfield to the ECAC Tournament Championship in 1998 and 1999. He was later named the 2002 and 2005 Great Western Lacrosse League Coach of the Year, leading the Stags to a pair of NCAA postseason berths. He is Fairfield's all-time wins leader at 93-90 (.508) in his Hall of Fame career from 1996-2008.
