FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse eyes a second straight Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) road win with a Saturday, March 25 trip to Towson. Opening faceoff at Johnny Unitas Stadium is slated for noon.
LAST TIME OUT
After jumping out to a 5-2 lead at Hofstra on Saturday evening in its CAA opener, Fairfield 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.
In addition to Ford and Consoli,
Jack McKenna had a standout evening on the attack with a hat trick and two assists.
Dylan Smith took on the matchup on the faceoff against Hofstra's Chase Patterson, who entered the day leading the CAA with a .633 win percentage. Smith battled to a 50 percent day at the X at 13-for-26 with nine ground balls.
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.
In the cage,
Will Snyder made seven stops to earn his first CAA win.
WILL CONSOLI: CAA ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
After a four-goal performance in Saturday's victory,
Will Consoli has been selected as the CAA Rookie of the Week.
Consoli scored twice in the first quarter against the Pride as the Stags built a 5-2 lead that they would not relinquish. He rattled the cage twice more in the fourth quarter to thwart the Hofstra comeback attempt – once to extend the lead to 10-8 and again to push the margin to 11-9 in the eventual 12-11 triumph.
THE TOWSON UNIVERSITY TIGERS
Following a season-opening 20-7 win over the Mount, Towson has lost six consecutive games to fall to 1-6. The Tigers' loaded non-conference scheduled included losses to #17 Saint Joseph's, Richmond, #7 Loyola, UMBC and #1 Virginia. Most recently, Towson hosted Drexel in its CAA opener, falling by a 12-11 count in overtime.
Matt Berkeley leads the Towson offense with 23 points comprised of 13 goals and a team-high 10 assists. Nick DeMaio and Joaquin Villagomez share the team lead with 14 goals apiece.
Matt Constantinides runs the faceoff X to a .536 clip at 96-for-179 with 56 ground balls. He has also scored a goal and dished out three assists off the draw.
Evan Long has started six of seven games in the cage, posting a 12.25 goals-against average and a .496 save percentage with 66 saves and 67 goals allowed.
Towson went 7-9 overall and 3-2 in the CAA last season. The Tigers defeated UMass in the CAA postseason before falling to top-seeded Delaware in the championship game.
LAST MEETING
A flurry of first quarter goals gave way to a defensive showdown between Fairfield visiting Towson in the 2022 meeting at Rafferty Stadium.
Jack McKenna accounted for more than half of Fairfield's scoring with five goals in a 12-8 setback to the first-place Tigers.
After 11 combined goals in the first 13:31 of the game, the Stags and Tigers only mustered nine markers total – including an empty netter – over the remainder of the contest.
James Corasaniti made 13 saves in the cage to help keep the Stags in the hunt, while the defense pressured the Tigers into 16 turnovers. Starting close defensemen
Braden Lynch,
Caleb McNaull and
Zack Antoniou helped lead the effort on that side of the field with two ground balls apiece.
The Stags also got single tallies from
Taylor Strough,
Kyle Borda and
Max Paparozzi.
The Towson attack was led by two goals and one assist apiece for Luke Schilling and James Avanzato. Austin Stewart added two goals and Nick DeMaio had a goal and an assist for the visitors. Shane Brennan made 16 saves in the Towson cage.
ALL-TIME SERIES
Towson holds a 7-1 lead in a series that began when the Stags entered the CAA prior to the 2015 campaign. Four the eight all-time meetings have been decided by one goal. The most notable clash is the 2016 CAA Championship Game, an historic defensive struggle that was won by the Tigers, 4-2, at Unitas Stadium.
UP NEXT
Conference action comes to Rafferty Stadium for the first time in 2023 when the Stags host Drexel on Saturday, April 1 at noon. The Dragons are 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the CAA after an overtime win at Towson last weekend. Drexel hosts CAA newcomer Hampton this Saturday before making the trip to Fairfield.
