FAIRFIELD, Conn – Fairfield University Men's Lacrosse overcame a four-goal halftime deficit to force overtime with visiting Yale on Saturday afternoon on Conway Field at Rafferty Stadium, but the Bulldogs struck just 44 seconds into the extra session to escape with a 15-14 decision.
Will Consoli and
Devin Lampron posted four points apiece for the Stags.
With the loss, Fairfield slips to an even 3-3 on the season. The Stags have played four one-goal games and are now 2-2 in those contests.
Yale, which started the week receiving votes in the national poll, improves its season mark to 3-2.
"I didn't think we were playing with enough confidence in the first half. We challenged the team at halftime to have more conviction in what we were doing, and I thought we responded. The second half was more of what we want Fairfield Lacrosse to be." said Head Coach
Andrew Baxter. "I think the takeaway from today is to continue working towards what playing with conviction and confidence looks like and how that feels, as well as how hard that is to sustain for 60 minutes or more. So that continues to be the goal."
Consoli helped the Stags keep pace in the first half, netting all four of his goals before the intermission.
KJ Delane and
Jeremiah Wade also netted first-half tallies as Yale took a 10-6 advantage into the locker room.
The Stags responded quickly in the third quarter on markers from
Jake Gilbert, Lampron, and
John Okupski to close the gap to 10-9. Gilbert added another goal in the period, but Yale netted three goals in the final seven minutes of the frame to maintain the edge, 13-10, with one quarter left to play.
Lampron started the fourth quarter scoring just 61 seconds in, finishing an Okupski feed. Yale answered just over two minutes later to rebuild a 14-11 lead with 11:42 left, but the Bulldogs would not score again in regulation.
On the ensuing faceoff,
Daniel Davis came away with one of his nine ground balls to win the draw and quickly found
Bryce Hrubiec on the wing. The long-pole fired home his first career goal to shrink the margin to 14-12.
The Stags pulled to within one goal as Lampron finished his second-half hat trick to run the score to 14-13 with 7:54 to go. After more than six minutes of scoreless lacrosse, the equalizer came from
Rob Moore to knot the score at 14-14 with just 1:34 remaining. Davis won the ensuing faceoff to gave final chance to the Stags in regulation, but Fairfield would not manage a shot. The Stags held off Yale's desperation charge in the closing seconds, and the contest went into overtime still tied at 14-14.
Yale won the overtime faceoff and converted on its opening possession, with Peter Moynihan completing his hat trick and ending the game with the Bulldogs taking the 15-14 decision.
Consoli (4g) and Lampron (3g, 1a) each finished with four points. Gilbert scored two goals, and Moore and Okupski each had a goal and an assist. Delane, Wade, and Hrubiec rounded out the goal scorers, with Davis and
Logan Bryant each tacking on an assist.
Davis did his part to keep Fairfield on the offensive end, finishing 17-for-29 on the restart with nine ground balls.
Defensively,
Andrew Kasten and
Alex Meier each had two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Consoli also registered a pair of caused turnovers as a part of the ride.
Julian Radossich had a caused turnover and picked up five ground balls.
Yale was led by three goals and three assists from Sean Grogan. Moynihan had three goals, capped by the game-winner, and Connor Gately added two goals and two helpers. Luke Michalik led the defensive effort for the visitors with three caused turnovers and seven ground balls.
In the Yale cage, Ben Friedman made 14 stops to earn the win.
The Stags' three-game homestand rolls on this Tuesday, March 10 with a 7 p.m. visit from Dartmouth. Tickets are on sale now at
FairfieldStags.com/TIX.
