Fairfield Hands Irish Another Upset Loss
from press release
HOUSTON - Joseph Marra made a career-high 17
saves to lead the Fairfield University men’s lacrosse team to
a 10-8 upset of #3 Notre Dame in the inaugural ‘Beating
Cancer With A Stick Classic’ Saturday afternoon at The
Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas. The Stags improve to 2-2 on
the year, while the Fighting Irish fall to 3-2.
Fairfield scored seven of the first eight goals of the game,
building a 7-1 edge with 6:33 to play in the second quarter.
Notre Dame scored a man-up goal with 5:34 to play in the first-half
and the teams went to the break with the Stags ahead 7-2.
Notre Dame struck for the first two tallies of the second-half,
closing to 7-4 on a Neal Hicks tally with 2:15 to play in the
period. Fairfield however would answer with two goals of its
own to end the quarter. Kevin Peters made the score 8-4 with
an unassisted goal with 1:35 remaining in the quarter, and Max
Trunz tallied the eventual game winner with two seconds left in the
third.
The Fighting Irish came on again in the fourth quarter, with David
Earl scoring 18 seconds into the quarter to make the margin
9-5. Grant Krebs scored back-to-back man-up goals for the
Irish (9:48 & 8:56) to get the Irish back within two goals,
9-7. Neither team could find the back of the net again until
Doug Kuring did so, with the Irish keeper out of the net, with 20
seconds to play in the game. Earl wrapped up the scoring with
an unassisted tally with seven seconds to play.
Kevin Peters and Brent Adams led the offense for Fairfield, with
two goals apiece, as eight different Stags tallied a goal in the
win. Matt Plominski also had two points, with a goal and an
assist.
Marra was one of four Stags to record four ground balls in the
victory. He made 10 of his 17 saves in the final quarter, to
hold off the Irish charge. Fairfield was outshot, 42-23, had
fewer ground balls, 33-28, and won just 6-20 face-offs on the
afternoon. The Irish cleared successfully 21-24, while the
Stags were 22-30. The Stags were 0-1 in man-up chances, while
the Irish were good on 3-7 of their chances.
The 10 goals scored by Fairfield marks the first time a Notre Dame
opponent has scored in double-figures since Syracuse did so in the
quarterfinals of the 2008 NCAA Tournament (11-9).
Fairfield got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 4-0 first
quarter lead. Matt Plominski struck first for the Stags,
touching net 78 seconds into the contest. Nick Baglio scored
next, also unassisted, with 8:37 to play in the quarter.
Brent Adams scored his first of the day, with 2:45 to play in the
first period and Kevin Peters wrapped up the first quarter offense,
netting a pass from Marshall Johnson with 13 seconds remaining.
Notre Dame broke through just under five minutes into the
second-quarter as Neal Hicks put home a pass from Colin Igoe.
The Stags wasted little time in getting the goal back as Mike
Esposito tallied his first of the game with 9:36 to play in the
half. Adams gave the Stags a 6-1 edge 46 seconds later,
putting a pass from Plominski in the back of the net. Sam
Snow gave the Stags a six-goal edge with an unassisted goal with
6:33 to play in the period. Max Pfeifer scored a man-up goal
for the Irish at the 5:34 mark, and the game went to the
intermission with the Stags leading 7-2.
