FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse came out of the locker room firing to trim Harvard's 10-5 lead to a single goal in the third quarter of Saturday's non-conference clash at Rafferty Stadium. But the Crimson responded in kind with the next six markers of the game to put away a 16-12 final. Kyle Borda had a career-high five points for the Stags and Max Paparozzi netted his first career hat trick.
 
"We continue to show resiliency; there were a couple of times today when we bounced back and didn't let Harvard pull away, and I told the guys that I'm proud of them for that," said Head Coach Andrew Baxter. "But we still have to keep working on our details and playing cleaner lacrosse to keep ourselves out of those situations where we're playing from behind."
 
Borda's afternoon consisted and two goals and three assists, following up on a four-goal showing in Tuesday's win at Sacred Heart. In addition to Paparozzi's hat trick, Taylor Strough and Jack McKenna added two goals apiece. The Stags got single goals from Bryce Ford, Patrick Drake and Frankie Labetti.
 
Rounding out the offense were Strough, Ford, Mike Drake and Luke Okupski each with one assist.
 
Labetti helped to keep the Stags on the attack with a 16-for-26 day on the faceoff dot with 13 ground balls. Ryan Hamburger stepped in to go 3-for-5 on the draw with a pair of ground balls. He also forced a caused turnover to win back one of his two faceoff losses.
 
In the back row, Braden Lynch and Jon Wheat each came away with two caused turnovers, as did Okupski from the defensive midfield. The defense was fortified by six saves from Colin Consoli in the first half and seven James Corasaniti stops in the second frame.
 
After Harvard jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead, the Stags got back-to-back goals from Paparozzi and Strough while keeping the Crimson off the board for the final eight minutes of the period to draw even at 3-3 after 15 minutes of play. However, Harvard controlled the action for the ensuing 15 minutes, outscoring the Stags by a 7-2 count to take a 10-5 lead into the locker room.
 
Fairfield needed just five seconds to swing the momentum after halftime as Labetti won the opening faceoff and took it all the way home for a goal. Borda then netted a goal and a pair of near-identical connections from Borda to Paparozzi trimmed the margin all the way to 10-9 with 4:23 remaining in the third frame.
 
But once again, the Crimson had a counterpunch waiting. Austin Madronic ended the run with the third of his five goals on the day to push the lead back to 11-9 heading to the fourth quarter. In that frame, Harvard put up the next five tallies to rebuild a commanding 16-9 advantage with just 6:42 left. Fairfield did not quietly as the Stags ran off three goals in just 53 seconds courtesy of Ford, Strough and Borda, but neither team would strike for the final five minutes of action as time expired on a 16-12 Harvard victory.
 
Madronic led the Crimson with seven points courtesy of five goals and two assists, with Sam King netting a goal and handing out five helpers. Miles Botkiss added five goals for Harvard. Kyle Mullin was an even 50% in the cage with 12 goals allowed and 12 saves.
 
Another quick turnaround is on tap for the Stags when they return to Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium on Tuesday, March 8 to host in-state foe Quinnipiac at 7 p.m.