September 24, 2010

Fairfield Men's Lacrosse Announces its 2011 Schedule

Fairfield University head men’s lacrosse coach Andy Copelan today announced the Stags 2011 slate. The Stags will play a 14-game regular season schedule, with seven home games, and culminating in the first-ever ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament.

"We're pleased to release our 2011 schedule and look forward to the challenges and opportunities that the schedule presents. As always, the ECAC should be very competitive and we're excited about the prospects of having the ECAC's first ever conference tournament."

The Stags begin the season with back-to-back road game, February 19 at Lafayette and February 26 at Bryant. It is the second consecutive season that the Stags open with those two opponents, having fallen 15-10 to the Leopards at home in the 2010 opener, and defeating the Bulldogs 5-3 on Alumni Field in the program’s first-ever meeting.

Fairfield begins the home portion of its slate on March 1 with a night-game versus in-state foe Quinnipiac University. The game will be the second part of a double-header scheduled with the Fairfield women’s lacrosse team. That contest kicks off a five-game, 19-day home stand for the Stags that includes a return visit from Big East Lacrosse member Villanova on March 5.

The Stags ECAC Lacrosse League opener is the middle game of that home stand, as the Air Force Academy visits for a March 11 contest. A pair of non-conference games – versus the University of Vermont on March 15 and Colgate University on March 19 – concludes the season-long home stand.

Fairfield returns to the road, and league play, on March 26 as it travels to Geneva, N.Y. for a contest with Hobart College. The Stags continue ECAC play the following week as they host Bellarmine University, before travelling to Baltimore, Md. for a league game versus Loyola University Maryland on April 9.

The Stags travel to the center of the state on April 12 for a non conference meeting with the University of Hartford, before returning home for the final time. Fairfield plays its final home game against Hofstra University on April 16.

Back-to-back road conference road games wrap up the regular season for Fairfield. The Stags visit Ohio State on April 23. The game is set to be played at Ohio Stadium, as part of The Showdown In the Shoe, proceeding the Buckeyes spring football game. Last season a regular season NCAA record 31,078 fans watched Ohio State defeat Air Force 10-6. The regular season finale comes on April 30 at defending ECAC Lacrosse League champion, the University of Denver.

The ECAC will host a postseason tournament for the first time, May 6-8 at the University of Denver. The top-four teams from the regular season will meet with the champion earning the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.