Sam Snow and Brent Adams both tallied hat tricks as the Fairfield University men's lacrosse team clinched a berth in the inaugural ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament with an 11-9 win over host Ohio State University at Ohio Stadium in the annual 'Showdown in the Shoe. The win improves the Stags record to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in league play, while the Buckeyes fall to 7-7 on the year and 2-3 against ECAC foes.

Fairfield trailed only once, 1-0, when Mike Pires netted the first goal of the game just less than five minutes into the contest. Snow scored his first of the game 5:35 later to knot the score, 1-1, which is how the first quarter ended. Rookie Jordan Greenfield gave the Stags a 2-1 advantage 2:37 into the second quarter, with an unassisted tally. Snow followed with a man-up goal at the 5:29 mark for a 3-1 advantage. Dominique Alexander snapped the Stags run 39 seconds later, but Snow and Matt Plominski ended the half with consecutive goals for a 5-2 halftime lead.

Both offenses found their stride in the second-half, with Ohio State opened the third quarter with a 3-1 run to cut its deficit to 6-5 with 6:24 to play in the period. Adams netted his first of three second-half goals at the 3:59 mark, on a pass from Max Trunz. Michael Italiano netted the final goal of the period for the Buckeyes, as the game entered the final period with the Stags leading 7-6.

Adams scored a minute into the final period as the team's alternated goals over a 10 minute span, resulting in a 9-8 Stags advantage after Tyler Frederick scored for the Buckeyes with 4:01 to play in regulation. Adams scored his third 56 seconds later, unassisted, with what would prove to be the decisive tally. Nick Tandoi scored 16 seconds later for an 11-8 lead, which lasted 12 seconds until Logan Schuss scored for The Buckeyes.

Fairfield made its only stop of the day in a man-down situation in the final minutes of play, as the Buckeyes took four shots - none on cage - in the final 2:11 of play. Drew Palmer and Gordie Wells both caused a turnover in the final 67 seconds of play to preserve the victory. Both finished the game with two caused turnovers, while Brendan McTague caused a team-best three turnovers.

Ohio State scored on each of its first three man-up chances in the game, the most of any opponent this season. Fairfield was 1-1 in its extra-man chances on the day.

Trunz handed out a season-best four assists in the game to finish tied for a game-high four points. John Snellman touched net twice in the game for the Stags. Schuss finished the game with a goal and three assists for Ohio State.

Fairfield took just 27 shots on the afternoon, scoring six of its eight attempts in the second-half. Ohio State recorded 42 shots in the game, with 28 coming in the second-half. Charlie Cipriano stopped 12 shots in the game, including seven in the second-half alone. Greg Dutton made all four of his saves in the first-half.

The Stags took good care of the ball, clearing successfully 20-21 times on the afternoon. They also committed only 13 turnovers in the game, while the Buckeyes had 15 turnovers and cleared the ball successfully 17-18.

Fairfield wraps up the regular season on April 30 when it travels to ECAC front runner Denver at 1 p.m. mountain time.

Posted On: 04-23-2011 11:04 AM

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