Fairfield Lacrosse Opens Season at Brand-New Rafferty Stadium

The beginning of the 2015 season on Saturday, February 14th, will mark a new era for Fairfield University lacrosse. The weekend doubleheader, which begins at noon, marks Opening Day at Rafferty Stadium – a new, state-of-the-art facility located on the University’s main campus.

Saturday’s openers for the men’s and women’s teams will be the first of three scheduled doubleheaders for the Stags. The men’s squad hosts Holy Cross at noon followed by the women facing crosstown foe Sacred Heart. Both ends of the Opening Day twinbill – and all 16 home lacrosse games in 2015 – are slated to be broadcast live on FairfieldStags.TV.

The construction of Rafferty Stadium was made possible through the generosity of Fairfield alumni, parents and friends. The stadium is named in recognition of the principal leadership gift from Larry Rafferty ’64 and his family, and the field is named in recognition of a gift from Tim Conway ’76 and family. Several other locations around the stadium are named to recognize major supporters and contributors to the project, who will be recognized along with additional donors on a plaque located inside the stadium.

Rafferty Stadium seats 3,500 fans in grandstands spanning both sidelines. The FieldTurf playing surface is complemented by state-of-the-art lighting, which provides optimal light levels for both competition and practice, and a Daktronics high-definition video scoreboard. In addition, the stadium includes a terrace level with a fully-enclosed press box that includes a large media suite, two VIP suites and a production suite to support the video capabilities of the scoreboard, television broadcasts and web streaming. On the ground level are two team rooms, food/beverage and apparel concessions, restrooms, a box office and entry plaza.

Fairfield men’s lacrosse, entering its seventh season under the direction of Head Coach Andy Copelan, will also join a new conference in 2015 as the Stags enter the nationally-competitive Colonial Athletic Association. Fairfield returns 26 student-athletes from a squad that finished with a record of 12-4 in 2014, matching the program record for victories. The Stags rose as high as No. 11 in the national rankings last spring en route to winning the ECAC Lacrosse League Regular Season Title for the first time in program history. Fairfield also reached the ECAC Championship Game for the third time in the last four campaigns.

In the 2015 preseason, Colin McLinden (Madison, N.J.) and TJ Neubauer (Glen Arm, Md.) have been named All-America Honorable Mentions by Inside Lacrosse, while McLinden, Neubauer and Max Buchanan (Wyckoff, N.J.) received Preseason All-CAA distinctions. The Stags were projected to finish third in the CAA Lacrosse Preseason Poll and have been recognized in the national preseason rankings by several organizations.

Led by Head Coach Mike Waldvogel in his eighth year at the helm, Fairfield women’s lacrosse looks to continue its tradition of excellence within the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in 2015. The Stags won a share of the MAAC Regular Season Championship as a part of a 12-5 campaign last spring, marking their ninth consecutive trip to the MAAC postseason.

Fairfield was tabbed for a third-place finish in the MAAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll, with Meghan Reda (Pleasantville, N.Y.) and Chelsey Sidaras (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) collecting Preseason All-MAAC honors. Both student-athletes were First Team All-MAAC selections at the close of the 2014 season.

Fairfield lacrosse season ticket packages and individual game tickets are available now. For more information and for group rates, please contact the athletics ticket office at StagsTickets@fairfield.edu or (203) 254-4136 or visit FairfieldStags.com/tix.