The Fairfield University men's lacrosse team scored a pair of goals in the final minute of play, but could not get the equalizer, falling 13-12 to visiting Colgate University on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, the Stags fall to 2-2 overall, while the Raiders improve to 3-3 on the year.

The Stags led 9-8 when they turned the ball over with 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter when they took the ball out of the box after having received a stall warning. Colgate did not waste the opportunity as Zack Craumer (Greenwich, Conn.) put home a feed from Brandon Corp (Chittenango, N.Y.) with 1.2 seconds left on the clock to score the goal.

The Raiders would score three straight, and four of the next five goals, to build a 13-10 lead with 4:39 to play, but the game was far from over. Rookie John Snellman (Norwalk, Conn.) fired home his second tally of the game, netting a pass from Chris Ajemian (Duxbury, Mass.) pass with 53 seconds to play. Colgate won the ensuing face-off, but the Stags forced a turnover with 40 seconds to play. This time Ajemian tallied the goal, with 26 seconds to play, from a Brent Adams (Norwalk, Conn.) pass, to get the Stags within a goal, 13-12.

Colgate won the final face-off, winning 19-28 for the game, and called a timeout. The Stags defense forced a turnover with four seconds left on the clock, along their own end line, but could not get the ball up field fast enough to attempt an equalizing shot.

Charlie Cipriano (Williston Park, N.Y.) played the entire game in net for the Stags, making 11 saves, and picking up three ground balls. Tim Harrington (Lutherville, Md.) made five saves in net for the Raiders.

Ajemian and Adams both led the Stags with four points, each tallying two goals and dishing out a pair of assists. Logan Rausse (Arnold, Md.) tallied a team-high three goals, while Chris Trombino (Huntington, N.Y.) had three points, with a goal and two assists.

Ian Murphy (Constantia, N.Y.) and Kevin Colleluori (Bethpage, N.Y.) each had four points in the game to lead the Raiders, with three goals from Murphy and three assists from Colleluori. Craumer also netted three goals for Colgate.

The Stags finished with a 32-31 advantage in shots in the game, but the Raiders held a 30-22 advantage in ground balls. The Stags were 0-1 in man-up situations, while the Raiders converted on 2-4 of their extra-man chances. Fairfield cleared 12-15 for the game, while Colgate was 9-9. Both teams took care of the ball with Colgate turning it over 10 times, five caused by Fairfield, and the Stags committing eight turnovers, four caused by the Raiders.

Fairfield returns to action on Tuesday, March 17, traveling to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., for a 4:00 p.m. game versus Marist. It marks the return of Stags first-year head coach to Marist, where he spend his first two seasons as a head coach, posting an 18-15 record and leading the Red Foxes to their first-ever NCAA Tournament in 2005.

2009-03-14