HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – After jumping out to a 5-2 lead at Hofstra on Saturday evening in its Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) opener, Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse had an answer for every comeback attempt by the Pride. Bryce Ford fueled the attack with three goals and three assists, and Will Consoli scored four goals to pace the Stags as Fairfield held off the hosts for a 12-11 victory on Long Island.
 
The Stags open CAA play with a win over Hofstra for the second consecutive season, moving to 3-5 overall. The Pride slips to 2-6 with the home loss.
 
A pair of freshmen started the scoring with Consoli and Jake Gilbert each rattling the cage in the opening two minutes of action. Hofstra's John Madsen followed with back-to-back tallies to knot the game at 2-2, which would be the last time that the score was tied. Ford snapped the deadlock with his first of the day, starting a 3-0 run that also included goals from Consoli and Jack McKenna, as the Stags claimed a 5-2 lead.
 
Hofstra pulled to within one goal on four occasions, but never broke even as the Stags continued to find the back of the cage. The final stretch saw Gerard Kane trim the margin to 10-9 with 9:04 to go. Fairfield's response came on the man-up as Consoli got his fourth of the day two minutes later. The Stags took advantage of a locked in penalty and won the ensuing faceoff. Though the Pride technically killed off the remainder of the EMO chance, the Stags cashed in on the unsettled situation with Ford completing his hat trick and extending the lead to 12-9 with 5:56 to go.
 
That score held into the final minute, when Rory Jones scored on the man-up to cut the lead to 12-10 with 59 seconds left. After the Pride won the ensuing faceoff, Kane finished off the possession and lead shrank to 12-11 with 29 ticks left. Hofstra once again won the pivotal draw and called timeout with 21.4 seconds remaining. The Stags defense held pat on the final possession as a skip pass sailed out of bounds and Fairfield fired the restart down field to watch time expire on a CAA road triumph.
 
In addition to Ford and Consoli, McKenna had a standout evening on the attack with a hat trick and two assists. Max Paparozzi added a goal and Rob Moore had two helpers to round out the Fairfield scoring.
 
Dylan Smith took on the matchup on the faceoff against Hofstra's Chase Patterson, who entered the day leading the CAA and ranked 13th nationally with a .633 win percentage. Smith battled to a 50 percent day at the X at 13-for-26 with nine ground balls. Patterson was 10-for-20 and was supplemented by a 3-for-6 showing by Benjamin Niesman.
 
On the defensive end, Zack Antoniou nabbed five ground balls with a caused turnover, and Matt Rice picked up four grounders with the short stick. Braden Lynch made his return to the starting close defense unit, and the All-CAA Second Teamer registered three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
 
In the cage, Will Snyder made seven stops to earn his first CAA win.
 
Justin Sykes had a hat trick to lead Hofstra, with Matt Elder adding a goal and four assists. Mac Gates had 11 saves in the cage for the Pride.
 
The Stags continue their CAA road swing next Saturday, March 25 at perennial league contender Towson on Saturday, March 25. The Tigers are 1-6 overall and 0-1 in the conference after a 12-11 overtime loss to Drexel this afternoon at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
 
Conference action comes to Rafferty Stadium when the Stags host Drexel on Saturday, April 1 at noon.