Feb. 19, 2011
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette men's lacrosse boasted one of the most potent offenses in the 2010 season. However, 2011 opened with 60-mph winds that sputtered the Leopard attack, as Lafayette fell 8-4 in the opener against Fairfield Saturday afternoon at Rappolt Field.
It took a while for both attacks to get going, as the teams traded turnovers in the opening minutes of the game. The Stags outshot Lafayette 9-5 in the opening frame and took a 2-0 lead into the second quarter.
While the second frame was a scoreless 15 minutes for both teams, the Leopards began to find their opportunities and chances. Lafayette outshot Fairfield 6-4 throughout the quarter, but both defenses stood tall as the Stags maintained their 2-0 into halftime.
After a Fairfield goal to open the second half scoring, the Leopards got on the board with 13:48 remaining in the third quarter. It was a pair of senior co-captains that got together when Stefan Bauer found Tom Perini to cut the Fairfield lead to 3-1.
The Stags answered with three straight goals, the final of which came with 3:04 left in the third quarter. The Leopards responded with Alex Floeck's first goal of his Lafayette career to trim the Stag advantage to 6-2 going into the final 15 minutes.
After Fairfield again opened the quarter scoring early, the Leopards used goals from Perini (Colin Serling assist) and a Serling goal from Bauer to cut the lead back to three (7-4) with 3:58 remaining.
The comeback was not to be as Fairfield capped the game's scoring with an even-strength goal at 2:20 and held onto the ball in the final minute for the 8-4 win.
Lafayette outshot Fairfield 35-27, including 16-5 in the final quarter. Perini led the Leopards with 15 shots on the afternoon.
Freshman Andrijko Andrusko tallied five saves in his first career start for Lafayette, including a number of big saves in the second half as the Leopards tried to hang around.
The Maroon and White also won the groundball battle (29-21), but it was the Stag man-up attack that ultimately decided the difference. Fairfield was 3-for-3 on man-advantage opportunities while the Leopards were 0-for-3.
Lafayette has a week to regroup and get ready for their second game of the young 2011 season. The Leopards will host Binghamton on Feb. 26 at Rappolt Field. Face-off is set for 3:30 p.m. following the Lafayette women's game.
