FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- #15 Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse finished Saturday's game on Senior Day at Rafferty Stadium on a 5-1 run to surge past visiting Drexel, 12-11. Jake Gilbert and Luke Okupski had the final two goals that propelled the Stags to the Coastal Athletic Association win.
 
With the victory, the Stags remain unbeaten at 9-0 on the season and improve to 2-0 in the CAA. Fairfield's win coupled by an overtime loss for #3 Army West Point and a triple-overtime loss for #1 Maryland leaves the Stags as the nation's last remaining unbeaten team.

Drexel, which earned a home win over Monmouth last Saturday, falls to 1-1 in the CAA as part of a 4-5 overall mark.
 
"It's a CAA game, you always go into it knowing that it could come down to one goal," said Head Coach Andrew Baxter. "I thought Drexel did some things to disrupt us and slow us down. But we just continued to focus on the next play and keep doing what we do, and some of our guys made some big plays on the offensive end."
 
The one-goal game was Fairfield's third of the season, joining the Stags' back-to-back February overtime wins over Sacred Heart and Manhattan. Fairfield had not trailed in a game since the final minute of regulation against the Jaspers – a span of 282:26 of game time – prior to falling behind late in the third quarter of today's contest.
 
"I think we needed some adversity, and we know we're going to see more of it over the next five weeks," Baxter added. "I'm proud of how we responded to it and continued to stick to our gameplan and believe in the principles that got us to this point."
 
The Stags started the game hot, with Devin Lampron, Luke Okupski and Keegan Lynch all finding the back of the net in the first quarter while the defense kept Drexel off the board over the opening 15 minutes.
 
The Dragons needed just 22 seconds of the second frame to end their scoring drought, but the Stags responded with three more – this time with Will Consoli scoring two and Lampron getting one to stake Fairfield to a 6-1 advantage. At that point, however, Drexel got the next four to send Fairfield to the intermission with only a 6-5 lead.
 
The Stags struck first out of the locker room on Gilbert's first of the day but would not score again in the frame while the Dragons poured in the ensuing five tallies to flip the advantage to 10-7 in their favor with 13 minutes to play.
 
The Fairfield comeback began with a Jason LaMay goal aided by Rob Moore's career-high fifth assist of the afternoon. A pair of defensive midfielders teamed up for the next tally with Andrew Kasten dishing the assist and Matt Rice getting the marker on his senior day. The equalizer came from Lynch, who beat his defender and the shot clock to knot the game at 10-10 with 7:31 left.
 
Drexel's response came on the man-up, with Will Farrell finishing a feed from Witt Crawford with 6:04 left. But the Stags needed just 47 seconds to answer as Gilbert leveled the contest again with an unassisted tally at the 5:17 mark.
 
The Dragons won the ensuing faceoff, but Rory Thompson swooped in to jar the ball loose and Julian Radossich picked it up the start Fairfield heading in the right direction. The sequence ended with Lynch finding Okupski for his second of the day to put the Stags back on top, 12-11.
 
Drexel once again gained possession on the restart, but Owen Hirsch made the last of his six saves to quell the threat. The Dragons merited a final attempt in the closing seconds, but Julian Radossich's stick check forced the last shot out of play with possession going to the Stags, who let the final seconds tick away on the 12-11 victory.
 
Moore's five assists made him the Stags' leading scorer without netting a goal of his own. Gilbert had a four-point day with two goals and two helpers. Lynch had two goals and an assist, with Consoli, Okupski and Lampron adding two goals apiece.

Rounding out the scoring, Rice and LaMay each had on e goal and Kasten doled out one assist.
 
Rice was also a force on the defensive end with three caused turnovers and four ground balls. Radossich also finished with three caused turnovers and Hirsch had two from the crease.
 
At the faceoff X, Daniel Davis went 11-for-21 with eight ground balls. Jonathan Lewis won two of his three attempts in relief.
 
Prior to the game, Fairfield Men's Lacrosse recognized its nine-member Class of 2025: Chris Adornato, Joe Costantino, Chris DeBellis, Owen Hirsch, PJ McGoldrick, Caleb McNaull, Rob Moore and captains Matt Rice and Rory Thompson.
 
"This group brought a different level of competition, of mental toughness and of love that has helped to elevate our program," said Baxter. "And I think you saw all of that on display today from those nine guys and also saw how that culture shift is now exhibited by every guy in our locker room."
 
Conor Hooley and Matt Martin each had two goals for Drexel. Brendan Donnelly made 13 saves protecting the cage for the Dragons.
 
Fairfield Men's Lacrosse is back in action next Saturday, March 29 for a noon opening faceoff at Stony Brook. The Seawolves are 4-5 overall and 0-2 in CAA play. Both of their conference losses have come in overtime by identical scores of 13-12, including today's setback at Towson.
 
Action returns to Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium on the following Saturday, April 5. The Stags will host Hofstra for a noon start. Tickets are on sale now at FairfieldStags.com/TIX.