RIVERDALE, N.Y. – Faced with a 6-5 deficit entering halftime on Saturday at Manhattan, Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse scored the first nine goals of the second half to surge to a 15-9 victory.
John Okupski scored three goals for the Stags, and
Jake Gilbert netted two tallies with four assists.
With the win, the Stags even their record at 2-2. Manhattan slips to 1-3.
Fairfield's 9-0 run featured points from the seven different players. Fairfield kept the Jaspers off the board for a span of 20:26 as the defense forced six turnovers in that stretch. In total, Manhattan only scored one even-strength goal in the second half alongside two man-up markers for the hosts.
Okupski's hat trick paced nine goal scorers for the Stags. Gilbert,
Devin Lampron,
Rob Moore, and
Logan Bryant netted two goals apiece, with Bryant tallying the first pair of his Fairfield career.
Will Consoli,
KJ Delane,
Carson Dyl, and
Luke Patchen each added a single goal.
In addition to four assists from Gilbert,
Jeremiah Wade distributed two helpers. Moore, Consoli, Patchen, and
Kevin Dolan each handed out one as the Stag assisted on 10 of their season-high 15 goals on the day.
Fairfield stayed on the attack courtesy of
Daniel Davis at 12-for-18 on the faceoff X. Davis's dozen wins included seven ground balls.
Jonathan Lewis went 3-for-6 in relief on the spot, and
Mark Durling was 1-for-2. The trio combined for a 16-for-26 mark on the restart, leading Fairfield to a 34-19 advantage in ground balls.
On the defensive end,
Julian Radossich recorded three caused turnovers, and LSM
Bryce Hrubiec had two. In total, Fairfield pressured the Jaspers' offense into 20 turnovers including four failed clears. The Stags were a perfect 17-for-17 on the clear.
Owen Hirsch picked up the win in the cage.
Manhattan was led by a hat trick for Thomas White. Ryan Beller made nine saves in goal for the Jaspers.
Up next, Fairfield heads to Providence for a Saturday, Feb. 28 meeting with the Friars. Opening faceoff is set for noon. Providence is 2-2 following an 8-7 overtime loss to Brown this afternoon.
