Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse starts a three-game homestand on Saturday, March 19 with a visit from Providence. Opening faceoff for the Friars' first visit to campus since 2014 is slated for noon.
 
Saturday's game is the start of a doubleheader that will also feature Fairfield Women's Lacrosse hosting Sacred Heart.
 
LAST TIME OUT
James Corasaniti made a career-high 21 saves to lead Fairfield to a 16-11 win at Binghamton on Monday afternoon. The Stags' attack was powered by a career-best six points from rookie Jack McKenna.
 
McKenna matched his career-high of five goals and dished an assist to round out his half-dozen points. He was one of three Stags to record a hat trick as Mike Drake scored a career-best four tallies and Max Paparozzi notched three markers along with two assists. Taylor Strough also netted a pair of goals – including the game's only man-up strike – with Patrick Drake adding one and Matt Rice scoring the first goal of his Fairfield career.
 
Patrick Drake matched his brother with a four-point day, as he distributed three assists along with his one goal.  Kyle Borda also doled out a trio of helpers, with Josh Demko notching his first career point by way of an assist to round out the scoring effort.
 
CORSO SAVES THE DAY
James Corasaniti made a career-high 21 saves in the win at Binghamton, the most for Fairfield goalkeeper since Tyler Behring turned away 23 Bucknell offerings during the 2016 campaign. The 21 saves are the most in a Stags' victory since April 6, 2003, when C.J. Kemp stopped 22 shots in a 15-8 GWLL win over Air Force.
 
While Corasaniti's 191 minutes in the cage do not officially qualify him for the national leaders, his .617 save percentage would currently slot fifth in the nation.
 
THE PROVIDENCE COLLEGE FRIARS
Back-to-back home wins over Sacred Heart and Vermont last week have propelled Providence to a 4-3 record. The Friars also own wins over Holy Cross and Siena with losses to Bryant, Saint Joseph's and Brown.
 
Providence is led on the attack by Matt Grillo, the Big East's leader with 3.29 goals per game (23 total) and Ryan Bell, who heads the conference ledger with 2.71 assist per outing (19 total). Michael Harris owns a .488 save percentage and a 13.26 goals-against average in the cage.
 
The Friars went 4-9 overall and 3-7 in the Big East last spring, falling to top-seeded Denver in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
 
LAST MEETING: PROVIDENCE 18, FAIRFIELD 17 (3/3/2021 at Providence)
In a game that featured 35 goals from 18 different players, it was the host Friars who came away with an 18-17 decision in the Stags' 2021 season opener. Patrick Drake led the Stags with a career-best six points.
 
A fast-paced contest throughout, the Stags fell behind by a five-goal count, 13-8, midway through the third quarter. At that juncture, four goals in under four minutes closed the gap to 13-12 with 4:13 to play in the stanza. Despite the Friars ending the Stags' run, Drake would answer in rapid succession with two goals in 22 seconds, ending the third quarter tied at 14-14.
 
A two-goal spurt from Providence opened the fourth-quarter scoring before Fairfield cut the deficit to 16-15 with 9:04 to go. The offenses then fell uncharacteristically silent as defense and goalkeeping reigned for more than six minutes. With time winding down, Trent Moran got the equalizer at the 2:44 mark, knotting the game at 16-16.
 
The Friars responded in short order with a Brendan Driscoll goal, then – after gaining a crucial stop – added an insurance tally with 53 seconds to go. That marker would loom large as the Frankie Labetti came away with the ensuing faceoff to facilitate a Dean Ford goal with 36 seconds left that ran the margin to 18-17 in favor of PC. Labetti won the draw yet again, but the Stags were unable to rattle in the cage in the final seconds as Providence held on for the one-goal victory.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Fairfield leads the all-time series with Providence, 11-5. The Stags are looking to avoid their first back-to-back losses to the Friars since consecutive setbacks in 1993-94, Fairfield's first two campaigns as a varsity program.
 
While Providence has never played on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium, the Stags hold a 6-2 advantage in games played on campus in Fairfield.
 
DYNAMIC DUO
Taylor Strough and Jack McKenna rank first and second in the CAA in goals per game at 3.43 and 3.14, respectively. The pair are also the only teammates to both rank in the top 20 nationally in goals per game.
 
Strough has scored 24 goals with two assists, also leading the CAA with 3.71 points per game, and tops the conference with five man-up goals.
 
A two-time CAA Rookie of the Week, McKenna has scored 22 goals with three helpers. He ranks third nationally among freshmen in goals per game.
 
OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK
The Binghamton game was the 408th game in Fairfield's varsity lacrosse history and just the eighth time that the Stags played on a Monday. Before this season, the most recent Monday game was on Feb. 15, 2016 against Richmond, a game that was also rescheduled due to inclement weather.
 
STROUGH JOINS THE CENTURY CLUB
With five goals against Quinnipiac, Taylor Strough became the seventh member of the Stags' 100 Goal Club. He added two more in the win at Binghamton to move past Hall of Famer Greg Downing into sixth all-time in goals. Strough is also tied with TJ Neubauer for 12th place in points at 122.
 
FRANKIE ON THE FACEOFF
Frankie Labetti continues to climb the all-time ledger as one of the top faceoff men in Fairfield history. With 413 faceoff wins, Labetti is four victories away from tying Michael Roe (2012-14) for third all-time. He has also nabbed 238 ground balls in his career, trailing only the 290 collected by NCAA and MLL faceoff legend Peter Vlahakis from 2001-04. With a .546 win percentage on the draw, Labetti is chasing the second-place mark of .555 set by his predecessor and former teammate, Will Fox. Vlahakis owns that mark as well with a .627 win percentage en route to his program best 620 faceoff victories.
 
UP NEXT
The Stags' three-game homestand continues this Tuesday, March 22 with a 7 p.m. visit from St. John's. The Red Storm, who visit Dartmouth on Saturday, are 1-5 on the season.
 
The clash with St. John's is Fairfield's final non-conference game before CAA play opens with a visit from Hofstra on Saturday, April 2.