FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse took a 5-3 lead over first-place Delaware on Saturday afternoon on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium, but the visiting Blue Hens scored 11 of the game's final 12 goals to pull away for a 14-6 victory.
Bryce Ford tallied a hat trick to lead the Stags.
The loss levels the Stags' record at 2-2 in the CAA as a part of a 5-6 overall tally. Delaware, which entered the week receiving votes in every major national poll, improves to 6-3 with a 4-0 league mark.
"Delaware is a good team and we knew they were going to play at a high level," said Head Coach
Andrew Baxter. "The difference was in our fundamentals. We didn't play to our standards for a full 60 minutes. Our physical mistakes started to lead to frustration and mental mistakes, and Delaware capitalized."
Ford's hat trick improved his team-leading totals to 27 goals and 39 total points on the season.
Will Consoli added his 21st goal of the campaign with
Keegan Lynch and
Matt Rice each scoring one.
Jake Gilbert rounded out the scoring with an assist.
Dylan Smith took every faceoff for the Stags, wrapping up at 13-for-23 with seven ground balls. He also won back one of Delaware's faceoff victories with a caused turnover in the midfield.
Ryan Lancaster picked up four ground balls and added a pair of caused turnovers.
Defensively,
Owen Hirsch made a career-high 15 saves protecting the Fairfield cage and also picked up three ground balls.
Rory Thompson added a pair of caused turnovers from the LSM spot, and Braden Smith finished with a caused turnover and two ground balls on close defense.
Delaware was fueled by five goals from John McCurry and a hat trick with two helpers by JP Ward. Kevin Ellington had 15 stops in goal for the Blue Hens.
Up next for the Stags is a trip to the Jersey Shore to challenge Monmouth in a pivotal CAA clash on Saturday, April 13. Opening faceoff is set for noon. The Hawks are tied with the Stags at 2-2 in conference play as a part of a 5-5 overall record after a 15-4 win over Hampton this afternoon.
Fairfield is back at Rafferty Stadium on the following Saturday, April 20, to close out the regular season home slate with a 1 p.m. visit from Stony Brook.
