The then-No. 1 Pioneer men’s lacrosse team was upset Saturday by conference opponent Fairfield 10-9 in overtime in front of a sellout crowd of 2,520 at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, the fourth-highest attendance in stadium history.
Saturday’s loss drops the Pioneers to 10-3 on the season and 5-1 in the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Pioneers fell from No. 1 to No. 2 behind Loyola in the ECAC and dropped to No. 5/4 in the national polls after being upset by unranked Fairfield.
“I was disappointed in myself, disappointed with everyone associated with our program,” said head coach Bill Tierney. “As thrilled as I was last week, we just didn’t give an effort. We get another chance next week to try to get some momentum with Michigan going into that tournament, but it’s going to be a tough, tough week.”
Senior Eric Law led the Pioneers with four points on two goals and two assists. Also scoring for the Pioneers were sophomore midfielder Wes Berg and senior attackman Colin Scott with two goals each and senior midfielder Cam Flint, sophomore midfielder Eric Adamson and junior attackman Harrison Archer with one goal each.
Senior midfielder Chase Carraro battled in the faceoff X for Denver, going 10-of-20 on faceoffs, while Fairfield’s Michael Roe went 12-of-22. Sophomore Ryan LaPlante and junior Jamie Faus split time in goal again, with LaPlante making four saves and allowing six goals in the first 30 minutes and Faus stopping three and allowing four goals in his 30:56 of the game.
Scott opened the scoring for Denver just seven seconds into play when Carraro’s shot ricocheted off the post and deflected off Scott into the goal. Berg and Law followed suit and each added a goal of their own to finish the first quarter leading 3-0.
The Stags struck back in the second after being held scoreless in the first quarter of the game and fired six goals into the net. Sophomore midfielder Colin McLinden scored quickly in the second period, but Scott responded to make the score 4-1 just two minutes into the second frame.
“It was about a six-goal second period,” said Tierney. “We don’t give up six goals to anybody in a period; that’s crazy.”
Fairfield freshman midfielder TJ Neubauer shot one past LaPlante to cut the Pioneers lead to two before Denver extended their lead back to three goals with a breakaway goal from Law less than two minutes later.
The Stags followed Law’s goal with four-straight tallies from junior attackman/midfielder Eric Warden, sophomore attackman Tristan Sperry, senior midfielder Sam Snow and junior attackman Alex Cramer to carry a 6-5 lead into the locker room.
The Pioneers came out hot from halftime, picking up a quick pair of goals from Berg and Flint to regain the advantage at 7-6 just 3:30 into the second half. Fairfield responded and knotted the game with 3:50 remaining in the third quarter as Warden beat Faus to make the game 7-7.
Archer found the net early in the final quarter in regulation, regaining the lead before Adamson followed up with a goal of his own to take a 9-7 lead. With five minutes remaining, the Stags scored two-straight goals to knot the game at nine goals and send the two teams into overtime.
Just 56 seconds into overtime, Snow found the net and beat Faus to close the game at 10-9 for the Stags.
“We had put ourselves in a position where our backs were against the wall just to make the ECAC Tournament,” said Fairfield head coach Andy Copelan. “We knew we had to scrap and fight and claw down the stretch here, and we were just able to get it done today.”
The Pioneers have one game remaining in the regular season on April 27, when they will host conference opponent Michigan at 12 p.m. at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium.
“Now, we’ve got to win,” said Tierney. “We had an opportunity for next week, if we had won today, to clinch first place and be 6-0 in league. But now we’re back to fighting uphill, and it puts a lot of stress on the guys. We’ll probably see Fairfield or Ohio State again in the first round of the ECAC Tournament.”
Michigan is currently in last place in the ECAC with a 1-12 overall record, 0-6 in the ECAC. The Pioneers dominated the Wolverines in their last meeting last season 17-5. This marks Michigan’s first season in the ECAC.
