#15 Towson at #20 Fairfield

[FU73]

No. 15 Towson vs No. 20 Fairfield, Saturday, April 11 at 2 p.m at Rafferty Stadium.

Following their 10-9 win over UMass last weekend, the Fairfield Stags (7-4 overall, 2-0 CAA) made their first appearance of the year in the Cascade/Maverik Media Poll, a place where the Towson Tigers (8-3 overall, 2-0 CAA), have resided for every week of the season. This weekend, these two programs will meet for the first time in history, sole possession of first place in the CAA on the line.

Formerly affiliated with the ECAC, Fairfield is in the midst of their first season in the Colonial Athletic Association. Conversely, the Tigers have been CAA members since the conference began sponsoring lacrosse in 2002, and their four conference titles are the most of any program.

While their backgrounds couldn’t be more different, the two programs have one thing in common, namely their suffocating defenses. This weekend’s matchup features the third and fourth best defenses in the nation: Towson allows only 6.91 goals per game while Fairfield, at 7.27, isn’t far behind. While the Stags have allowed a combined 31 goals during their current five game winning streak, the Tigers have allowed over eight goals just once this season, against Loyola back on February 18.

www.insidelacrosse.com/article/weekend-watch-bitter-rivalries-on-tap/31643

Fairfield Stags.TV ($5.95 PPV):
www.fairfieldstags.com/liveEvents/liveEvents.dbml?SPID=137830&DB_OEM_ID=32500&db_oem_id=32500

Live Stats:
www.fairfieldstags.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=32500&LIST_SPORT__LACROSSE

[FU73]

Stags trail 5-6 at the start of the 4th quarter. Towson winning the face offs 10/14.

[FU73]

Close game with the Stags down 5-8 in the final quarter and battle back with two goals but not enough.

Quarters - 1 2 3 4
Towson - 4 1 1 2
Fairfield - 4 0 1 2

Stag Women's Lacrosse lose 10-11 to Canisius in the first game of the Stag Lax Doubleheader.

[stagthomas]

Another one goal loss

[stags74]

Should be able to win next two games at home both Delaware and Hofstra sub 500 teams. This game against Towson was the key. Andy Copland did not het it done again, another 1 goal loss. Will need to beat Towson at the CAA playoffs in Baltimore to get to NCAA.

[FU73]

Postgame recap video:

www.fairfieldstags.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?catid=90014&id=3931093

Box Score "attendance" of 1,225 for the game and 445 for the Stag Women's game of the doubleheader.

[ctghostman]

Apr 11, 2015 18:20:49 GMT -5 stags74 said:

Should be able to win next two games at home both Delaware and Hofstra sub 500 teams. This game against Towson was the key. Andy Copland did not het it done again, another 1 goal loss. Will need to beat Towson at the CAA playoffs in Baltimore to get to NCAA.

Is Copeland the right guy? No NCAA appearances yet dspite. a large commitment to the program. The CAA is solid but not great. It doesn't have Denver or Loyola at the top. It doesn't have the name schools of Ohio State or Michigan. He didn't get us into the Big East with Denver or other name schools.

Great facility that will help but as of now, we are average at best. Copeland hasn't done it here or anywhere else. Why do we expect him to lead us to prominence?

[stagz]

We are in a great spot to make it to the NCAAs. We just have to finish strong then redeem ourselves against Towson. We can not overlook the next 2 games, but despite the one goal losses we can still make this season a HUGE success.

[ctghostman]

Apr 12, 2015 14:16:32 GMT -5 stagz said:

We are in a great spot to make it to the NCAAs. We just have to finish strong then redeem ourselves against Towson. We can not overlook the next 2 games, but despite the one goal losses we can still make this season a HUGE success.

We have no shot at an at large & we will be underdogs to a team that beat us at home, on their home field. Not impossible -it was close, but we wont be favored.

[stagz]

At large bids are incredibly hard to come by in lacrosse. There are only 8 since the tourney is only 20 teams. It never was going to happen for us after that start. You basically need to be in the top 10 to get one. Not an easy accomplishment.

Our D is great. Think we were #4 in the country going into this week. We need to figure out how to score more goals. I think somehow we need to take more shots without losing position, which can be a tricky challenge.

[FU73]

With the home loss to Towson, this week the Stags drop out of the top 20 national rankings and Towson moves up to #12 in both the USILA Coaches and the Inside Lacrosse polls.

www.ncaa.com/rankings/lacrosse-men/d1/usila-coaches