April 1, 2006

FAIRFIELD, Conn.—Despite a four-point afternoon by sophomore midfielder Nick Currie (Corning East/Corning, N.Y.), the Hobart lacrosse team suffered a 15-9 ECAC Lacrosse League loss at Fairfield. The Stags improve to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in conference play, while the Statesmen fall to 4-4 on the year and 0-3 in league action.

Fairfield's Chris Manley opened the scoring at 12:21, but red-shirt first-year David O'Quinn (Robinson/Burke, Va.) answered at the 7:05 mark. The Stags seized control of the contest with five unanswered goals in a nine-minute stretch, spanning the first and second quarters.

Currie rallied the Statesmen with two unassisted, extra man goals at 10:50 and 9:15 of the second quarter, to trim the deficit to 6-3. After another Fairfield goal, Hobart responded with another two-goal surge on consecutive scores by first-year attackman Jeff Ryan (West Genesee/Syracuse, N.Y.) and senior attackman Mike Conklin (West Genesee/Syracuse, N.Y.) to get within two, the Stags found the back of the net once more for an 8-5 halftime edge.

Fairfield opened the third quarter with back-to-back goals to build a 10-5 advantage, and never let their lead dip below four the rest of the way.

Stag goalie Mike Kruger was strong in net, making 15 saves to earn the win. Senior Mike DeSantis (Mountain Lakes/Mountain Lakes, N.J.) made five saves for Hobart.

The Statesmen won nearly every statistical category, except the final score. Hobart outshot Fairfield 49-32, held a 48-33 advantage on ground balls, won 18-of-27 faceoffs, and were nearly perfect on clears (84%), while riding the Staggs (65% on clears). Sophomore Dan Spinella (New Hartford/New Hartford, N.Y.) won 8-of-10 at the faceoff X, while junior John Soden (Delbarton/Chester, N.J.) was 10-of-16 for Hobart.

The Statesmen return to action on April 8, when they host Penn State on Boswell Field. Faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.