FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Two goals in the first 36 seconds set the tone as Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse led wire-to-wire in Saturday's 14-12 win over Providence on a rainy Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium. Reilly Sullivan netted a hat trick and Will Consoli racked up five points to pace the attack in the Stags' second consecutive victory.
 
With the win, the Stags improve to 2-3 on the season. Providence, which had most recently defeated Brown, slips to 2-3.
 
"We've just been chipping away at our execution and trying to get better in all facets. Today certainly wasn't 60 minutes of perfect execution – Providence is a strong opponent and they did some things and made some adjustments to slow us down – but it was the closest we've been to where we want it to be and to being the team we want to be," said Head Coach Andrew Baxter.
 
The Fairfield scoring started right from the opening faceoff as Ryan Lancaster collected the ball from the wing and found Jake Gilbert for a goal just 10 seconds in. Dylan Smith won the second draw as well, with Gilbert quickly providing the assist and Consoli getting the finish to put the Stags in front, 2-0, just 36 seconds in to force a Providence timeout.
 
The Friars got on the board two minutes later to halve the margin to 2-1, but Fairfield responded with a 4-0 run and never looked back. Keegan, Lynch, Sullivan, Consoli and Gilbert accounted for the goals during that span, with Luke Okupski adding a marker later in the frame as the Stags built a 7-4 advantage after the first.
 
After 11 goals over the opening 15 minutes, Providence managed the lone goal over the first 11 minutes of the second frame, cutting the margin to 7-5. But the Friars would not score again in the period, as Bryce Ford and Sullivan each struck in the final four minutes to send the Stags into the locker room with a 9-5 lead.
 
In addition to netting nine first-half goal for the second straight game, Will Snyder made 11 saves over the opening 30 minutes to keep Providence at bay.
 
The Friars opened the second half scoring less than two minutes in, but that ding to the four-goal margin was quickly repaired as Smith scooped the ensuing faceoff and took it the distance for his first career goal. That marker started a 3-0 run with Okupski adding his second and Sullivan capping his hat trick to open up a 12-6 advantage.
 
Providence made a final push, scoring three straight to end the third quarter and getting the first goal of fourth to close the gap all the was to 12-10. It was Bryce Ford who ended the Fairfield drought of more than 12 minutes, finishing a pass from Rob Moore to extend the margin back to 13-10. After Providence got one back, Keegan Lynch provided the response less than a minute later, pushing the lead to 14-11 with just over five minutes remaining.

The ensuing faceoff went to Providence, but the Stags got the stop they needed as Eli Adams blocked a rocketed shot and Rory Thompson nabbed the ground ball. The Friars went man-up on their next possession, but Snyder made his 15th and final save of the day as time continued to tick away. By the time Providence got on the board again, the goal was just a consolation with 1:38 left as Thompson won the faceoff as Fairfield salted more time away. Lancaster forced an errant pass on PC's last effort as the clock expired on a 14-12 win.
 
Snyder's 15 saves were a season-best for the sophomore. The defense in front of him was highlighted by two caused turnovers and three ground balls for Braden Lynch, three grounders by Rory Thompson – who also went 2-for-3 at the faceoff X—and five picked up by Julian Radossich from the LSM spot. Providence fired 47 shots in the game, including 27 on target.
 
"Providence has some great players on offense who are all good shooters and are all players who shoot pretty freely," Baxter noted. "I thought our defense did a great job of getting in front of shots and limiting quality shots, and Will made some key saves when they did get a clean look."
 
The Fairfield defense also fought off three of Providence's five man-up opportunities. The Stags did not allow a man-up goal after the first quarter, including seeing out a pair of two-minute non-releasable infractions. Offensively, Fairfield converted it's only EMO of the day with Sullivan getting the man-up marker.
 
Consoli's five-point day consisted of two goals and three assists. Sullivan added an assist to his first career hat trick, and Keegan Lynch also had a four-point afternoon with two goals and two helpers. Gilbert and Ford posted identical stat lines of two goals and one assist, with Okupski added two goals and Smith netting his one from the faceoff spot. Rounding out the attack were Moore and Lancaster with one assist apiece.
 
Smith was 14-for-26 at the faceoff X with seven ground balls as the Stags' gained a slight 16-14 edge on the restart.
 
A two-game road swing is deck for the Stags as Fairfield wraps up the non-conference slate with trips to Bryant (March 6) and UMass Lowell (March 9). Action returns to Rafferty Stadium for the CAA opener when Hofstra comes to town on Saturday, March 16 at noon.
 
Single-game tickets for all four CAA home games on the slate are on sale now at FairfieldStags.com/TIX.