FAIRFIELD, Conn. – A wild final three minutes saw Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse pull within two goals of Brown on Saturday on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium. But the visiting Bears got the stop they needed to see out the remainder of the contest and head back to Providence with a 10-8 decision.
 
With the loss, the Stags even their 2026 tally at 1-1. Brown starts its campaign at 1-0.
 
"In the first half, we didn't execute nearly anything that we wanted to do. It was a very hectic game, and Brown did a better job of playing in chaos," said Head Coach Andrew Baxter. "We played more of our brand of lacrosse in the second half. Overall, I was happy with that response, but we just didn't do enough in our execution to make up for the first half."
 
Trailing 10-6 with under 10 minutes to go, the two teams played scoreless lacrosse for more than seven minutes. Fairfield ended that drought on John Okupski's second goal of the day, cutting the deficit to 10-7 with 2:32 remaining. Brown won the ensuing faceoff but the Stags forced a turnover, leading to Consoli completed his hat trick off a Jake Gilbert to push the count to 10-8 with 1:33 left.
 
Jonathan Lewis won the next pivotal faceoff for the Stags, who called a timeout to draw up a play. The designed set resulted in a chance on the doorstep for Okupski, but Brown goalkeeper Connor Foley made the last and most important of his 14 saves, and the Bears saw out the remaining time to seal the 10-8 final.
 
Consoli added an assist to his hat trick for his second consecutive four-point day. Okupski added two goals and an assist, with Gilbert and Rob Moore each pitching in one goal and one assist. Devin Lampron notched a man-up tally to round out the Fairfield scoring.
 
On the defensive end, All-American Julian Radossich wreaked havoc to the tune of four caused turnovers and seven ground balls. Nate Livingston added a caused turnover and two grounders from the backline.
 
In the midfield, Bryce Hrubiec came away with five ground balls including several from the wing in faceoff situations. Lewis had six wins on the spot, and Daniel Davis came away with two.
 
Owen Hirsch made 12 saves protecting the Fairfield cage.
 
Jeremy Hopsicker led Brown with four goals, while Marcus Wertheim and Jameson Steele each had two goals and one assist. Foley finished with 14 saves in goal for the Bears.
 
Up next, the Stags make the crosstown trek to Sacred Heart to challenge the Pioneers on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 3 p.m.