Mirror Sports: Covering Fairfield Athletics

New Blog Site

2009-10-18T20:14:00.005-05:00

With the redesign of our Web site, we have also created a new blog. This site will now serve simply as an archive of our previous postings. With basketball season starting, we will be kicking off our coverage soon.

http://fairfieldmirror.com/category/blogs/sports-blog/

Yes, It's Ladies Night

2009-09-15T13:47:00.003-05:00

Oh, what a night.

'70's funk songs aside, Chris Simmons and I will be getting back into that Fairfield Mirror groove with a double-dose of live coverage from campus. While our resident Managing Editor will cover Women's Soccer's matchup with Bryant College (the other BC), I'll be live from Alumni Hall blogging about Volleyball's return home and September showdown against Jesuit rival Fordham.

Given the team's rough stretch this weekend in Ann Arbor at the Pepsi Classic, I'm sure that head coach Alija Pittenger and the Stags are looking forward to seeing the Red Sea.

In other news, the other fall sport on campus has a game tonight against that other BC from up north... Tom Cleary will have sporadic updates from the Mirror office.

Rohrssen shows his stars and stripes

2009-07-13T14:34:00.002-05:00

We're a little past the Fourth of July, but the New York Daily News decided to continue the patriotic feel of the summer months and run a feature on Manhattan head coach Barry Rohrssen, who recently returned from a nine-day stint in Iraq and Afghanistan with other Division-I coaches. The program, "Operation Hoop Talk", is one of many United Service Operations (USO) goodwill programs.

Among the others that attend: American's (another Fairfield opponent) Jeff Jones and South Carolina's David Odom.

Rohrssen always stuck me as an aloof, ominous-looking coach that lacked the charisma of Ed Cooley or the excitement of Jimmy Patsos. Tom Cleary and I used to always kid about his bizarre three-piece suits he would wear courtside during Jaspers games. Then again, maybe that's just his personality.

After reading the article, I can honestly say my opinion's changed. Good for Barry, and great publicity for Manhattan's program.

Enough of the summer siesta

2009-07-13T14:31:00.002-05:00

It's been nearly three months since our last blog post. Three.

So, for the sake of sanity and to avoid any further laziness, I believe it's time to revive the engine and attempt a mid-summer comeback.

We'll keep it as general as possible for the summer months and try to get a nice variety of topics. Tom and I will mostly chime in on men's basketball and the goings on around campus as the fall sports begin to prepare for the upcoming season. As always, though, men's basketball will be the focal point in a season that is typically slow for news stories.

And, remember: feel free to chime in with suggestions.

Women's lax knocks off LIU 20-9

2009-04-15T17:51:00.002-05:00

The women's lacrosse continued to roll on towards the postseason with a sixth straight victory, defeating Long Island University 20-9 at home. Fairfield improved to 12-2 and have won 11 of its last 12 games this season. LIU dropped to 3-11 with the loss.

Senior Rebecca White and sophomore Kristen Coleman led the way for Fairfield with four goals each. Kate Reardon added three goals and Katie Phillips and Erin Rigby each added two goals.

White scored 2:06 into the game, but LIU answered right back with a goal by Claire Janney. White scored again five minutes into the half and started a 4-0 run, which was interrupted when LIU when on a run by scoring three of the next five goals. Fairfield closed out the half with a Coleman goal that sparked a 9-0 run to send the game into the half.

The Stags scored the first four goals of the second half to continue their run. Ten different Fairfield players scored in the game overall.

Fairfield now returns back to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference schedule with its final two games of the season, taking on Canisius College, who also sits at 4-0. The winner of the game will be the top-seed in next weekend's MAAC tournament.

-Tom Cleary

Fairfield slays Vermonster

2009-04-01T15:09:00.003-05:00

Ben & Jerry's reference, anyone?

OK, maybe that was a stretch, but this much is certain: I've never seen a more sloppy, inconsistent, shaky, lopsided than one-sided than back again lacrosse game that somehow ended up as an instant classic in my life. You can thank a stirring fourth quarter of lacrosse on Fairfield's end for that one.

As if 'The Mirror's' online coverage isn't enough, here's some post-game reactions from all the important players:

Head Coach Andy Copelan

On whether today’s second half comeback (against Vermont) is a sign of maturation
“I don’t know if it is maturation, but I think that it is fight. They haven’t shown any quit in them, which is a positive. Now the negative is that we’ve put ourselves in a position where we’ve had to scramble to win ballgames, and I think sooner or later if we’re not careful it is going to come back and nip us in the tail. So we need to go out and start much better than we have shown recently.”

On the takeaways from the Vermont game regarding execution
“I think anytime you go into a game you have to execute the game plans. I think communication is critical. I think execution is critical. And I think having a workman-like attitude is critical. And I think we’ve shown a few of those qualities and characteristics, but we haven’t yet shown the ability to put it all together.”

On the team’s short week and upcoming game against Georgetown
“I think we treat it fairly similar. Obviously we understand the importance of a conference game and the importance of playing a team like Georgetown, who has as much talent as anybody in the country. But I think we’re going to stay the course. I don’t think we’ll do anything too out of the ordinary.”

On the Fairfield’s ‘Control our own destiny’ rallying cry
“That’s been the them of the last couple of weeks. We’ve started off strong and put ourselves in a position that is pretty powerful. Now we just need to go ahead and stay the course and answer opportunities when they present themselves. Next thing is next, and that is Georgetown on Saturday.”

Senior Defenseman Matt Petre and Billy Honovich
On whether today’s second half comeback (against Vermont) is a sign of maturation
MP: “Yeah, definitely. I shouldn’t really say definitely. We’re maturing in the sense that every game we come out we are fighting hard and we’re giving it all we go. But, maturing in the sense that we’re not executing and following the gameplan and doing the little things right… we’re too sloppy. I mean, we’re coming out of a sloppy game and coming out on top. But in a few of these upcoming games, that’s not going to work.
BH: “In these past few games we’ve kind of steered away from the game plan in the beginning that has hurt us and put us in a hole. But, like Matt said, the fight and the will to win has helped us escape with wins”

On the third-quarter letdown
BH: “Well I know they won a couple of key face-offs, and we were man-down a couple of times, which is always a momentum-killer or a momentum-shifter. We just couldn’t get it going on offense and it kind of reflected on defense.”
MP: “A lot of mistakes were mental mistakes. Whether it was an in game adjustment that we didn’t execute. Two-slides, covering the crease, checking down sticks - it was just mental errors. We weren’t getting beat one-on-one too much, but as a team and team defense, mentally, we weren’t working together.”

On Esposito’s late third-quarter goal, Billy’s goal, and the momentum shift back to Fairfield
BH: “Oh, yeah. When ever you get a goal or a big faceoff or a big ground ball, it always kinds of leads to the next play or the next big play. We ended up getting those in the fourth quarter.”
MP: “Yeah, my man here with the big one.”
BH: “Matt scored on Saturday, so I couldn’t be the only one not scoring.”
MP: “Hopefully there’s some more to come

On expectations for this weekend’s game against Georgetown.
BH: “We’ve never beaten them. It’s always a team that I definitely want to beat, especially since, in our conference, we control our own destiny. It has to be the biggest game on our schedule right now.
MP: “Georgetown is a phenomenal team. They have a ton of talent. If we play like we have played in the past couple of games, we’re going to end up losing. So we really have to buckle down and execute mentally and finish. Hopefully we’ll come out on top this weekend.

Down go the Lions!

2009-03-21T16:44:00.004-05:00

This afternoon in Happy Valley, Fairfield's men's lacrosse team may have come an age.

Nick Baglio scored in overtime to secure a 5-4 with over the Nittany Lions, an ECAC rival. Charlied Cipriano (12 saves) had four huge point blank saves in the fourth quarter to keep the game tied. IT was Cipriano's third straight double-digit save game of his career. Penn Sate took 38 shots in total to the Stags' 28, but only scored twice.

More to come as the story advances.

Two for two for Fairfield lax

2009-03-17T18:04:00.002-05:00

After the women knocked off Sacred Heart this afternoon, the men completed a sweep for the Stags lacrosse programs as they defeated Marist 8-6 in Poughkeepsie in a non-conference matchup.

Although Fairfield and Marist are used to squaring off in the MAAC, the Stags participate in the ECAC Lacrosse League, while the Red Foxes play in the MAAC as they do in all other sports.

The Stags were led by an outstanding performance from freshman phenom John Snellman, a Norwalk, Conn. native who scored four times in the victory. Snellman now has a team-high 10 goals on the season. Fellow Norwalk native and freshman Brent Adams added an assist, increasing his team-high points total to 12 (six goals, six assists).

It was a return to Marist for Stags first-year head coach Andy Copelan, who coached for two seasons there and posted 18 wins.

Snellman scored twice in the first 12 minutes of the game to put Fairfield ahead and the Stags then broke a 5-5 tie in the third quarter to seal the victory.

-Tom Cleary

Women's lax knocks off cross-town rival Sacred Heart 16-11

2009-03-17T16:07:00.004-05:00

The Stags women's lacrosse team defeated Sacred Heart, 16-11, at Alumni Stadium for their fifth consecutive victory, improving to 6-1 on the season overall. Sophomore Kristen Coleman led the way for Fairfield with five goals on seven shots. Coleman now has 23 goals on the season, one behind team-leader Rebecca White, who scored twice against the Pioneers.

White, a senior captain, has also excelled defensively. She was named MAAC Player of the Week this week after leading the Stags with nine ground balls and three caused turnovers in their two victories over Mount St. Mary's and Lehigh. She had three groundballs against Sacred Heart.

The Stags outscored the Pioneers 12-2 in the first half, but Sacred Heart battled back with a 9-4 second half advantage, but could not get close enough to put enough pressure on Fairfield.

Fairfield has lost only once this season, at home against Yale in a devastating 11-10 overtime loss on Feb. 25. This season is following the same script of the last, when the Stags lost only to Yale before winning 17 consecutive games and then falling to Marist in the MAAC finals, costing the Stags a chance at the NCAA tournament.

Their next game comes on March 24 against Dartmouth as part of a three-game road trip. Fairfield returns home on April 3 for what could be its biggest game of the year against Marist. The Red Foxes are currently 3-1 and were selected second in the MAAC pre-season poll, behind Fairfield.

-Tom Cleary

A beautiful day for baseball?

2009-03-16T17:08:00.003-05:00

It might not have been the best day for baseball, with mid-40s temperatures and a brisk wind blowing on Alumni Diamond, but nonetheless the Stags played their home opener against in-state rival UConn, losing a hard fought 5-4 game.

The Huskies took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a ground out off of Fairfield starting pitcher Sam Robertson, a freshman from nearby Ridgefield, Conn. But in the bottom half of the inning the Stags jumped out to a 2-1 lead on singles by freshman Ryan Furbeck and Tyler Wosleger.

In the fifth inning UConn retook the lead when Pete Fatse hit a home run to right field, scoring three runs and giving the Huskies a 4-2 advantage. In the sixth inning the Huskies were threatening again, with runners on first and second with no outs. But shortstop Mike Olt lined into a triple play, hitting the ball to second baseman Tucker Nathans, who caught the line drive, threw to second base for a second out and then Furbeck threw on to first base for the final out.

The triple play, one of the more rare plays in sports, was the first since 1988 for the Stags. There was also a triple play turned in 2004.

UConn added a fifth run in the top of the seventh on a botched suicide squeeze attempt, when the batter missed the sign, but catcher Chris Horning dropped the pitch and the runner scored anyway. In the bottom half of the inning the Stags rallied again, with Furbeck and fellow freshman Mark Skrapits leading the way, each hitting RBI singles to pull the Stags within one run.

But that was as close as Fairfield would get.

The loss dropped the Stags to 3-8 on the year. After a rough start in Florida, the Stags have been playing better, defeating New York Tech in 10 innings on Sunday, following a 5-4 loss at St. John's the day before, when junior Bill Rafferty was thrown out at home plate in the ninth inning to end the game.

The Stags return to action tomorrow with a second away game at St. John's. After another in-state matchup with Quinnpiac at home on Thursday, the Stags start the MAAC season with three games at home against Siena this weekend.

-Tom Cleary

C-Bye-Bye to Fairfield's season

2009-03-16T01:42:00.003-05:00

No CBI this year for Fairfield; the sixteen-team field was announced just before midnight late Sunday night, and the Stags - or any other MAAC team - were not included. Niagara (NIT) and Rider (CIT) secured non-NCAA bids earlier this evening.

Plenty of questions around this one: Did the CBI selection committee really feel that Fairfield, strong RPI, improved conference and all, was not worthy of a tourney bid? Hard to believe. The better question: did Fairifeld turn down the bid given the financial implications and added hastles a low level tournament would bring? Was Cooley already on his way to the Bahamas for that dream vacation he's been talking about for weeks?

Let the speculation (and countdown to Nov. 2009) begin.

Does this look like the face of a man that could restart Fairfield's season?

2009-03-15T20:30:00.007-05:00

That would be Jeff Hironaka, the head coach at Seattle Pacific University - good lookin' guy - one of four members of the Collegiate Basketball Invitational (CBI) tournament selection committee that is, as we speaking, tossing around potential candidates for the backup backup tourney's second season.

Whether or not Fairfield is one of those names... well, you're guess is as good as mine. But here's a few random reasons the Stags have a prayer:

Fairfield finished the season with an RPI of 97. With the inclusion of the CBI, 113 D-I basketball teams will qualify for postseason tournaments. Add in the brand spankin' new CollegeInsider.com tournament, which is in its inaugural season, and that total is up to 123 teams. You do the math.
The Stags beat two teams (American and UT-Chatanooga) that won their respective conference and landed a spot in the NCAA tournament.
Siena (26-7), who won a postseason game in the NCAA's last year and pulled off a nine-seed in this year's Big Dance, finished the season of an RPI of 19. Niagara (26-8), an NIT team, also had a very respectable RPI . Translation: The MAAC is good. Very good.
Crazy conspiracy theory: David McLaughlin, head coach at Stonehill, is one of four on the CBI Selection Committee. Where did Ed Cooley go to college again?

Any thoughts? Also, be sure to chime in on the Scout message boards, where they've already been talking about this possibility for days.

UPDATE [10:57] - Two years, two straight postseason births for head coach Tommy Dempsey and Rider, which was just named as one of ten participants in the inaugural CollegeInsiders.com Tournament (CTI). The Broncs will play Liberty in the first-round. The MAAC is now three-for-three in postseason bids. Fairfield, your rebuttal?

Tonight, tonight

2009-03-09T19:15:00.002-05:00

It all comes down to this. At 9pm tonight in Albany, Niagara and Siena will tip with a shot at the NCAA Tournament on the line.

As much as I hate to say it, a final other than these two would've been a disappointment - they really are the two most talented and complete teams this year. Fairfield is evolving into a top team, and Rider boasts the league's top talent, but these two are the creme of the crop.

Despite head coach Fran McCaffrey's warnings, it appears as if MAAC Player of the Year Kenny Hasbrouck will play. Hasbrouck ran into a defender yesterday against Fairfield and severely bruised his lower right leg. Will it affect the game? Based on McCaffrey's post-game reaction (When asked if Hasbrouck could have returned late in the game if it was closer and their season as in doubt, McCaffrey bluntly responded, "Absolutely not.") yesterday, I'm almost positive he will not be 100%. The kid may limp the entire game.

Check out ESPN2 (and Ben Doody's live Trentonian blog!) at 9pm for the game. That's what I'll be doing, now back in good ol' Fairfield, Connecticut.

MAAC Championship Semis: Fairfield v. Siena

2009-03-08T16:46:00.000-05:00

MAAC Semis: Fairfield vs. Siena

Do you believe in miracles?

2009-03-08T12:14:00.004-05:00

As Marist women's team appears to be on its way to the NCAA Tournament, head coach Ed Cooley and the Stags had a 10:00am breakfast at the Crowne-Plaza and then headed to a late morning practice. We have yet to see them today, though. The Times-Union Center reopens at 4:30pm for tonight's men's games, with warm-ups and shoot-around starting a little before six.

Perfect timing to watch Duke/UNC and get your fill of MAAC Basketball.

Speaking of tonight's game, what do you think the odds are that Cooley, always a motivator, channels his inner Herb Brooks before tonight's game in the lion's den against Siena?

Tip of the cap

2009-03-07T22:32:00.002-05:00

First things first: a special thank you to all of our readers. Tom, Chris, and I appreciate it more than you know. We nearly reached 200 hits tonight - a record for the Mirror Sports Blog. The fact that you've made a choice to keep checking our blog and stick with our coverage means a lot to us. After all, it is the weekend and we are only a college paper. You're the heart of this blog.

So let's do it all again tomorrow, shall we?

If you're interested, here's our last bit of work for the night:

Tom Cleary has the game story from today's men's basketball game. For the first time in his three seasons as head coach of the Fairfield Stags men’s basketball team, Ed Cooley was able to walk off of the court with a smile following the MAAC quarterfinals.
As for me, I got a little creative and look at the stark contrasts between Fairfield and Siena. A very, very different look on tomorrow's game.

Women's Coverage, anyone?

2009-03-07T21:42:00.003-05:00

We've given the men a lot of love tonight for their win over Manhattan, but how about a little coverage of the women's team? Here's a rundown of our post-game work today on the Fairfield/Canisius game:

Chris Simmons looks back at the heartbreaking 62-55 loss to Canisius in the MAAC Tournament semifinals. His story is chock-ful of quotes from head coach Joe Frager and Baendu Lowenthal.
My column, albeit a short one, looks back at the Stags' recent postseason setbacks, the fantastic work of this season's senior class, and peeks ahead to '09.

Tom and I are finishing up some wall-to-wall stories and features for tomorrow's showdown with Siena. That should be up in about an hour.

In other news, the men's basketball team huddled at 9pm this evening at the Crowne-Plaza. No word on whether it was a practice, a walk-through, or a team meeting. This much is sure: they're as excited as I've ever seen them for tomorrow's game. More updates as they come.

Classy Cooley and Kelsey's

2009-03-07T18:55:00.002-05:00

Just got back from the Times-Union Center (we'll watch the rest of tonight's games from the comfort of our room) in rainy Albany. We also happened to run into the Fairfield men's basketball team, who rented out Kelsey's Pub in the lobby of the Crowne-Plaza to have a meal together and watch the Siena game.

Anyway, as we prep our post-game coverage and our preview of the semifinals game against Siena, thought I'd share a little story: after the game, Tom Cleary, Chris Simmons, and I were chatting with WVOF's Brendan Monahan and a few other Fairfield students that made the trip up to work the tournament. Cooley, who had wrapped up his post-game press conference five minutes before, stopped by and thanked us. Thank us? Really? Humbling to hear the coach say a few nice words about our coverage.

Then he paused for a second.

"I'll see you boys tomorrow," Cooley said with a smile.

MAACs: Men's Basketball v. Manhattan

2009-03-07T14:23:00.001-05:00

Courtside with Cleary and Connors (Pre-Game)

2009-03-07T14:19:00.002-05:00

At forward. Number forty-four.

2009-03-07T12:00:00.002-05:00

Leading up to last night, all indications seemed to point to junior forward Greg Nero attempting to play in this afternoon's MAAC Championships quarterfinals game.

Turns out we were right, and we found out last night from the man himself. Nero, who we accidentally ran into at the Crown-Plaza gift shop after dinner, said he's feeling much better and is "ready to roll tonight". Surprisingly, he talked more about the flu and "nasty cold" going around the team (head coach Ed Cooley looked exhausted yesterday) than his back issues. But his consistent rehab and medication is going well, and the team doctors unanimously gave him the final nod.

You can't expect a lot out of Greg given the nature of his injury, but it certainly helps Fairfield's chances.

No. 3 Fairfield vs. No. 2 Canisius Game Blog

2009-03-07T09:13:00.001-05:00

Mas MAAC Coverage

2009-03-06T17:17:00.003-05:00

As if we're not doing enough, here's my favorite two other outlets for all things MAAC Championships:

The Times-Union's 'College Sports' blog, hosted by Pete Iorizzo and Mark McGuire. I especially love the classy courtside video preview they did yesterday. I mean, who does blog video, anyway? In all honesty, TU is going all out on its coverage.
As if I needed to say anything else, Ben Doody is basically Mr. MAAC Basketball Coverage. 'The Trentonian' college hoops blog is second to none.

As for a Fairfield update, the team is headed for a team meal at the Crowne-Plaza at 7pm. We'll hope to grab Cooley for a word or two sometime after that. Potentially, if all goes according to plan, we'll have an update on junior forward Greg Nero.

Chattin' women's basketball with Simmons

2009-03-06T16:17:00.001-05:00

I ain't got time to bleed

2009-03-06T15:53:00.004-05:00

When 'The Mirror's' own Chris Simmons asked women's basketball head coach Joe Frager about potential fatigue and Canisius' relatively fresh legs (their starters barely topped 13 minutes in this morning's win over Canisius) Joe Frager answered with, perhaps, the quote of the year:

"Tired? If you're a competitor, tired isn't even in your vocabulary. You've got a lot of time to rest when this thing is all over. To heck with tired."

Think Coach Frager doesn't want a win tomorrow morning?

No. 3 Fairfield vs. No. 6 Siena Game Blog

2009-03-06T11:25:00.002-05:00

Real World: Albany

2009-03-05T20:33:00.002-05:00

After a three-hour bus ride from Fairfield, a few VitaminWaters, and a classy open bar banquet later, and 'The Mirror Boys' have retreated to the Crowne-Plaza in Albany, N.Y. to relax and unwind for the night. Tomorrow and Saturday (assuming the Fairfield women pull out tomororw's game) will likely bring 15 hours and change of basketball, so we're trying to recharge our batteries for the weekend.

Here's a rundown of what's gone on so far:

Player of the Year's were slam-dunks choices (Siena's Kenny Hasbrouck and Marist's Rachele Fitz). Same, at least from my perspective, for Coach of the Year (Siena's Fran McCaffrey and Canisius' Terry Zeh)
An upset of sorts for men's Rookie of the Year, as Rider's Novar Gadson was edged by Iona's Scott Machado. Our main man, Ben Doody of 'The Trentonian,' will likely have plenty of commentary on this award, so I'll defer to him on this. I found this to basically be a toss-up. I heard some of what Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey said at the banquet, and he seemed to take the decision in stride, a far cry from his defensive press-conference on Sunday in Lawrenecville.
Saw Fairfield and Co. at the Crowne-Plaza. Just about thirty minutes ago the women's team was assembled in the lobby, heading to a late-night walk-through and (presumably) a pep talk. I'm sure that head coach Joe Frager will have them ready to roll come 11:30am tomorrow. He even skipped tonight's banquet to continue preparation.
A nice - and relaxed - head coach Ed Cooley made an appearance at the MAAC Championships Awards Banquet, dressed completely in black. As a Giants fan, I couldn't help but think of the team's flight to Phoenix a year ago for Super Bowl XLII, when everyone (players and coaches... and even Easy E) wore black suits and ties to take a stand against the supposed "funeral" game against the Pats. Maybe I'm overlooking it, but there could be something there. Cooley loves rallying cries.
I'd also like to think that the team is taking on Cooley's relaxed mood. Most of the players were roaming the halls and grabbing a bite to eat at the restaurant in the lobby. We even saw Mike Evanovich get some alone time and take a dip in the pool. Hey, whatever works.

More to come in the AM, including live game coverage and pre-, halftime, and post-game video from the Times-Union Center for the Stags game against Siena.

Team USA meets the Red Sea?

2009-03-02T19:30:00.003-05:00

This from the desk of associate sports and information director Chris O'Connor:

"Former Fairfield University men's lacrosse players Greg Downing and Peter Vlahakis are among 84 players nationwide selected by US Lacrosse to try out for the 2010 U.S. men's lacrosse team that will compete in the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship in Manchester, England from July 10-24, 2010. The tryouts will be held from June 7-10, 2009 at Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I.

A 2007 graduate of Fairfield, Downing is the Stags only three-time All-America selection, having earned honorable mention following her final three seasons. Downing finished his Fairfield career fourth all-time with 101 career goals and fifth with 141 points.

Vlahakis was a 2004 participant in the USILA North/South All-Star game, following his Stags playing career. He is all over the Stags record book in the face-of category, including the all-time leader with 620 face-off victories.

Fairfield is in its fourth season as a member of the ECAC Lacrosse League. The Stags are 1-1, having earned a season opening win over Delaware, 10-9, in Andy Copelan's first game as head coach. Fairfield is home on Saturday, March 7, when it hosts ECAC foe Rutgers, at Alumni Stadium, at 1 p.m."

All-MAAC'in it

2009-03-02T13:25:00.002-05:00

Credit the Times-Union's Pete Iorizzo for breaking it first on his blog (I'll admit it, I saw it on his site before I even looked at the MAAC site myself), but the official, final All-MAAC teams have been released. For Fairfield, Greg Nero - despite his injury - was honored as a third-team selection. Baendu Lowenthal was an obvious slam dunk for first team on the women's side, and was joined by Stephania Geehan (third-team honors).

Here's a look at all of post-season team selections:

Men

All-rookie team
Scott Machado, Iona
Anthony Winbush, Loyola
R.J. Hall, Marist
Novar Gadson, Rider
Kyle Downey, Siena

First-team
Bilal Benn, Niagara
Tyrone Lewis, Niagara
Ryan Thompson, Rider
Kenny Hasbrouck, Siena
Edwin Ubiles, Siena

Second-team
Jamal Barney, Loyola
Ryan Schneider, Marist
Benson Egemonye, Niagara
Alex Franklin, Siena
Ronald Moore, Siena

Third-team
Frank Turner, Canisius
Greg Nero, Fairfield
Gary Springer, Iona
Darryl Crawford, Manhattan
Wesley Jenkins, Saint Peter’s

Women

First-team
Marie Warner, Canisius
Baendu Lowenthal, Fairfield
Thazina Cook, Iona
Rachele Fitz, Marist
Julianne Viani, Marist

Second-team
Brittane Russell, Canisius
Kelly Regan, Manhattan
Tammy Meyers, Rider
Tania Kennedy, Saint Peter’s
Heather Stec, Siena

Third-team
Amanda Cavo, Canisius
Stephanie Geehan, Fairfield
Anda Ivkovic, Iona
Erica Allenspach, Marist
Liz Flooks, Niagara

Cooley and Herbie's post-game thoughts

2009-03-02T13:16:00.003-05:00

Despite the inherent disappointment in their voices, head coach Ed Cooley and senior guard Herbie Allen managed to maintain their optimism heading into next week's showdown against Manhattan in the MAAC Tournament. Cooley even sounded a bit excited toward the end.

Here's their unedited press conference. I'll have a column, a profile, and another random blog post later on today. Here's some things to note:

The 'we won a lot of battles today' line
Some lovin' for Sean Crawford
Cooley's hilarious 'Night Before you get married analogy' to Herbie, which was then directed at me.
A Nero update - sounds like he's going to give it a go in Albany. But Cooley referenced "a couple of active bodies". I guess that just means a well-rested group, because I can't see them forcing Peanut Johnson to play, and Warren's injury is most certainly season-ending.

Head Coach Ed Cooley

Opening remarks

Cooley: Obviously, I’m very, very proud of our effort; of our resiliency, especially down the stretch. We just couldn’t catch that last break. Whether they had a second shot. I definitely thought we had them on the ropes. We went with our full-court pressure. We just couldn’t get that one last rebound or that one last lay-up. But we have to try to put this one behind us quick and look forward to the MAAC Tournament. It’s the old cliché, but everyone is even going up there. We may be playing on someone’s home-court, but that’s a debate for another day. So, I’m really proud of our effort, and we’re looking forward to going up to Albany and giving it our best.

On the maturation of the team’s new lineup

Cooley: Well, it’s the only lineup I’ve got. I think our guys have done a really good job, I’ve been saying it now for a month. When you look at all the adversity, it’s helped us all grow in a lot of ways, not just from a basketball perspective but from a life perspective. Taking advantage of opportunity when it is given, and today was another good example to grow from. We may be on the losing end, but there were a lot of winning battles in this game.

On whether the team’s new lineup has changed the team’s identity

Cooley: Yeah, I think we have. Normally my teams are physical and long and girth-y and athletic. Again, but if you lose what we’ve lost… I told you guys the last time. If there is a coach in the country that can go through what we just went through, and win the game that we’ve won and compete the way that we’ve competed… send me that CD and take me to his clinic, because I want to buy stock now. It’s frustrating in some sense and rewarding in others, because we’ve seen so many other young man step up, in particular Herbie, whose here with us fighting through everything.

On the spark Sean Crawford provided off the bench

Cooley: Yeah, we talked about that in the locker room prior to us walking up. You know, again, someone stepping in… it was the right time and the right call for him. He gave us a big, big push. Hopefully it is something that he can continue to grow on. It was the right time to put him in.

On the quick turnaround to play Manhattan next weekend

Cooley: I think it is luck of the draw a little bit. Both teams are familiar with each other. I’m just glad we’re not playing Loyola. Two years in a row playing those guys up there and coming up short both times in the last possession, both games. I’m pretty sure Manhattan is happy to play us and we’re happy to play them, and that’s reality. If we do some little things, hopefully we’ll be fortune. We’ve got to get healthy, though. Got to get healthy. I’d love a couple of active bodies back that can help this young man go out in style.

On the status of forward Greg Nero

Cooley: Hopefully Greg watched. He’s actually home. He’s actually home resting. We’ll probably have a word on him Monday or Tuesday on his health.

Senior guard Herbie Allen

On his mindset heading into the MAAC Tournament

HA: I’m ready. We’re ready. We just have to come out this week. Come out and work on the little things that we did not do in this game, like box-out. We didn’t really box-out and get the rebounds; second shots really hurt us today. But our team always comes out and plays hard every game. I have no doubt that we came out (today) and played 110 percent. We’ve been in almost every game, except for one (at Niagara). I believe we kept ourselves in a hole. We were down nine in two different situations today, and we wasted a lot of energy trying to get back into the game. We just have to work on staying in the game and not getting ourselves into a deep hold. (Cooley: “That’s a great point”)

On whether he feels this ‘new’ Stags team can beat any team in the MAAC

HA: Absolutely, we’re going to play hard.

Cooley: Absolutely

On whether he approaches the MAAC Tournament differently because he is a senior

HA: I’m going to approach it like these last five or six games our team has played. We are going to come out and play hard and play forty minutes a game.

Cooley: I told Herbie, it is a lot like the night before you get married… these games like that. Do you really want to step to that altar? Oh. You’re saying to yourself, “This is it.” You guys will go through that, you wait and see. Absolutely. You can tell my wife that, I still think about that now.

In case you're in the Captial Region...

2009-03-02T01:07:00.001-05:00

Here's a pocket schedule for next week's tourney:

Session I: Thursday, March 5, 2009 - Women's First Round

#7 Rider v. #10 Niagara 12:00pm

#8 Manhattan v. #9 Loyola (Md.) 2:00pm

Session II: Friday, March 6, 2009 - Women's Quarterfinals

#2 Canisius v. Rider/Niagara 9:30am

#3 Fairfield v. #6 Siena 11:30am

#1 Marist v. Manhattan/Loyola 1:30pm

#4 St. Peter’s v. #5 Iona 3:30pm

Session III: Friday, March 6, 2009 -Men's First Round

#8 Loyola v. #9 Canisius 7:30pm

#7 Iona v. #10 Marist 9:30pm

Session IV: Saturday, March 7, 2009 - Women's Semifinals

Winner of Canisius/Play-In v. Fairfield/Siena 9:30am

Winner of Marist/Play-In v. Iona/St. Peters’ 11:30am

Session V: Saturday, March 7, 2009 - Men's Quarterfinals

#4 Manhattan v. #5 Fairfield 2:30pm

#1 Siena v. Loyola/Canisius 5:00pm

Session VI: Saturday, March 7, 2009 - Men's Quarterfinals

#2 Niagara v. Iona/Marist 7:30pm

#3 Rider v. #6 St. Peter’s 10:00pm

Session VII: Sunday, March 8, 2009

Women's Championship Game (MSG) 12:00pm

Session VIII: Sunday, March 8, 2009 - Men's Semifinals

Manhattan/Fairfield v. Siena/Play-In 6:00pm

Niagara/Play-In v. Rider/St. Peter’s 8:30pm

Session IX: Monday, March 9, 2009 –

Men's Championship Game (ESPN2) 9:00pm

Dempsey gets defensive

2009-03-01T23:46:00.004-05:00

Here's some post-game quotes from Lawrenceville. I'll start with Rider, where head coach Tommy Dempsey used the press conference as a formu to voice his offense regarding supposed "harsh" coverage his team has received this season and the lack of recognition they're getting in league circles. I suppose he's referring to the fact that the Broncs aren't really in conversation with the "MAAC Elite" (i.e. Siena and Niagara). But when you lose to St. Pete's and Canisius, what do you expect?

As for the 'consensus' comment, draw your own conclusions. But Ben Doody's words have readers drinking plenty of 'Hatorade' lately.

______________________________________

Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey:

Opening remarks:

“Again, we just found a way to win. I think that’s what this team is pretty good at. It’s not always perfect, to say the least. I thought we were pretty sloppy today. But, again, we seem to come in here and talk about how it’s not perfect, but most of the time they’re wins. I think that, as you look back now… I know the consensus seems to be that it has been an up-and-down year, but the reality is that we have 18 wins, twelve league wins in a great league – I don’t consider that an up-and-down year. I think that’s a great year. We’ve won nine of our last twelve to end the season, and four in a row. That’s what I’m trying to focus on, the positives as we head into the MAAC tournament.

On his defensive reaction and his disagreements with public perception

“I think expectations have gotten to the point that the tone of everyone is always, “Ugh. That was sloppy. That was this, that was that.” I have to defend (my players) because look what we have done. The league is great. We’re three games clear of the team that finished fourth. We have beaten everybody in the league. I do feel like I have to defend. It’s been a very good year and I don’t feel like that is getting recognized right now.

On why that is the case

Just the consensus.

On the matchups against Fairfield today as compared to the (date) game at Alumni Hall

Well, they’re different right now. They’re big guys aren’t there. They’re playing a much quicker group and, in a strange way, they matched up (with us) a little bit better. Before the guys got hurt, they were so big and physical, and we were kind of stronger and quicker, whereas today they started a four-guard lineup and I felt they were able to guard us better. I thought their matchups, especially defensively, were better with this group versus when everybody was healthy.

On whether or not Fairfield’s lack of size and strength hurt them down the stretch

Yeah, I think we got the ball in the paint, we dominated the glass, we went to the free throw line – those kinds of things were the difference in the game. If we took care of the ball better, I think we would’ve been in better control of the game. We were a little sloppy today. I think we threw the ball around a little too much. 22 turnovers are very uncharacteristic of our teams. I think that is what gave them a chance to hang in the game.

Rider guard Ryan Thompson

If the team is playing with a chip on their shoulder due to a lack of recognition

Not really. It really doesn’t bother us. Everybody is competitive in this league. We take every game one-step at a time and treat every game as if it is our last.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Doody

2009-03-01T03:05:00.003-05:00

Another Fairfield/Rider game, another 'Doody Calls' return to the Mirror Sports Blog.

Back by popular demand, the former E-I-C and current assistant sports editor/columnist at 'The Trentonian' was nice enough to sit down and chat with me about tomorrow's game and the state of our teams heading into tourney time. Ben's likely to be helping us (and maybe even crashing with us) with our wall-to-wall covearge in Albany, so be ready for plenty of quality input and insight come next weekend.

And without further adu...

Here's the Q's:

1. What is the fundamental difference between Rider now and the Rider team we saw at Alumni Hall in late January?

Ben Doody: Justin Robinson has moved permanently to the 2 (with Ryan Thompson at the point) and become a very serious scoring threat. Before the first Fairfield game, Robinson had scored in double figures four times in 15 games. Starting with that game, he's done so in nine out of 10 games, including the last seven in a row. One reason for that is he had arthroscopic knee surgery about three weeks before the season started, and it took him a while to get going. Another is that partially because Harris Mansell has been in and out of a shooting slump for most of the year, Rider has gone to Robinson more often. He's shooting 48 percent from 3, so I'd say they've been rewarded for doing so.

2. If Siena and Niagara are 1 and 1A in the MAAC, is Rider the hands-down "next best"?

B.D.: First, I agree that Niagara is No. 1A in the MAAC and not No. 2, which I wouldn't have said until the Purple Eagles took care of the Saints with such ease the other night in Lewison. As for as the best of the rest, you'd have to say it's the Broncs, since they're the only other team to have beaten Siena, and because they split with Niagara. But the gap between Niagara and Rider is bigger than the gap between Rider and the Manhattans and Fairfields of the world.

3. Post-season Awards: Is Ryan Thompson a first-team All-MAAC selection? Gadson a possible ROY?

B.D.: I think Thompson is a shoo-in for first-team all-MAAC and Gadson is in a two-way race with Scott Machado of Iona for ROY. Until the last two weeks, I thought Gadson was the clear frontrunner, but that was before Machado won two more ROWs and Gadson had several off-games. But Gadson took a step forward against Loyola. He was suspended for the first half for violating team rules (which can't help him but probably won't hurt him much either) and Rider trailed by 13 at the break. He scored 12 points in 13 minutes in the second half and Rider came back to win. To me, that's a pretty good demonstration of his value to his team.

4. Just by looking at season results, it seems as if the Broncs have been a bit streaky and an enigma (wins vs. Niagara and Siena, losses to Canisius, SPC). What gives?

B.D.: I think that's symptomatic of young teams. It's easy to forget because Thompson and Mansell are their most visible players, but seven of the first nine guys in their rotation are freshmen and sophomores. When you consider their ability to win without big-time performances from Mansell (the only contributor they'll lose to graduation), they should be better and much more consistent next year.

5. If Rider is to make a noise in Albany next week, (blank) must happen and (blank) must step up. [I think you know where I'm going with there. Any predictions are fine. Be as creative as you'd like.]

B.D.: The answer for the first blank is lights-out 3-point shooting, which they've gotten in both of their key wins this year. They shot 58 percent from 3 against Siena and 62 percent against Niagara. For the second blank, they'll need good performances from just about all of their regulars, but I'll say Mansell. When he's on, they have three very dangerous outside shooting threats (Thompson and Robinson being the others), which many teams don't have.

OT:

1. It's baseball season... any bold AL East Predictions?

B.D.: I don't think I wrote this anywhere, so I guess you'll have to take me at my word, but I predicted in our news room last March that the Rays would make the playoffs. Everyone laughed at me, then I laughed in their faces when the Rays went to the World Series. (Then they had the last laugh when the Phillies -- the team of choice in greater Trenton -- beat the Rays into submission in the World Series). Since the Rays making the playoffs is no longer an absurd concept and the Blue Jays and Orioles both totally stink, I don't have anything bold for you. I'll just second Baseball Prospectus' opinion and pick the Red Sox to go 98-64 and win the division and the Yankees to go 96-66 and win the Wild Card. Then the Red Sox will beat the Yankees in six games in the ALCS before losing to the Cubs in the World Series. Now there's an absurd prediction for you.

Game 2: Men's Lacrosse @ Ohio State

2009-02-28T12:46:00.018-05:00

Your final from Columbus: Ohio State 11, Fairfield 6. More to come.
OSU is moving awfully slow on offense. Seems like this one is all but said and done.
Not looking good for the boys in our red. Ohio State leads, 11-5, with a little under three minutes to play in the game. OSU has certainly slowed the pace down on offense, playing a conservative, "four corners-esque" defense. That gameplan, coupled with Fairfield's young offense, is the product of your score.
Stags get another flag thrown on the Buckeyes on the face-off. That's four penalties near midfield on the face. Another EMO chance, and an opportunity to get some momentum as the quarter starts.
End of the Third: 9-5, OSU.
Five minutes later, still no video. I bet they do this to Michigan fans all the time.
Again, the video feed goes down. About more that mid-way through the third, and still 9-5, OSU.
Fairfield back on EMO on an illegal procedure on the face-off, again. Nothing doing. Fairfield retains possession, however, as a pass was deflected away from Ajemian. We're back to six-on-six, however.
OSU's Jeff Green dodges, never gets picked up, and scores on a pretty bounce shot passed Cipriano. 9-5, Buckeyes.
Stags, again, answer. An illegal procedure on the faceoff led to extra-man offense, and Fairfield scores (their second in there chances on EMO). Can't tell you who scored - the Ohio State play-by-play guys has no clue who Fairfield is or who they're players are - but it looked like an attackman. Ohio State's Radio is no VOF.
Jeff Ryan with a goal on a slide from Fairfield. Delgarno, an attackman, drew the slide after he was matched up with a short-stick defender. 8-4 Ohio State early in the third.
Halftime at the Horseshoe: Ohio State leads, 7-4. As the teams head to the locker room, the marching band blares the unmistakable Ohio State fight song. Speaking of which, is there any band better in the good ol' U.S.? The best I've seen in person was Texas A&M back in the old Kickoff Classic at Giant Stadim as a kid. But 'Script Ohio' is as college football as Bear Bryant and the Heisman Trophy. As the saying goes, "They're the best damn band in the land". And even us northern Yankees (as my advertising professor from Indiana calls Fairfield students) can appreciate it. Classic.
Fairfield answers, and the score moves to 7-4 with :07 to play in the second quarter. Missed who scored it, but I'll get that to you as soon as I can.
Midway through the 2nd: Ohio State leads, 6-3.
Awful, awful video feed from 'Bukeye Vision' on OhioStateBuckeyes.com - you'd think that a big-time program like that would have their story straight. Good to see, though, that online feed problems are not just immune to mid-majors.
Weather in Bergen County, NJ: 40 degrees and partly sunny. In Columbus? They're indoors. A prominent 'OHIO STATE' end zone marks the midway point of the end line on the field of the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, the indoor complex that James Tressel and Co. call home. I always hated playing on a field specifically designed for football, can be awfully confusing with lines (especially sidelines, which are classic thick white in the Hayes Center)

Copelan conquers Columbus?

2009-02-28T12:06:00.003-05:00

Big, big game about to start in Columbus, as the Stags take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in the team's second game of the season.

Fairfield enters the game coming off of a thrilling, 10-9 win over UDel a week ago. The Buckeyes are 2-1, and currently sit at 18th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll. Today marks the seventh time, surprisingly, that Fairfield and Ohio State are meeting in lacrosse.

The old GWLL foes have won four of seven.

Stay here for some live updates and analysis. If you want live game coverage, then head on over to the official Ohio State athletic website, where they've got live stats and a game feed (if you're willing to pay the price).

And if you're looking for trash talking to a friend of red and gray, look no further than our picture - hope you weren't alarmed by it. Ohio State (yes, the Ohio State) has a pistol team. A Division-I pistol team. They also boast a rifle team and synchronized swimming. You can't make this stuff up.

Men's Basketball vs. Manhattan

2009-02-27T19:30:00.001-05:00

Men's Basketball vs. Manhattan

Stag-tastic Votes

2009-02-24T15:59:00.002-05:00

And, no, I'm not referring to today's FUSA Elections on campus, which are in the process of being held as we speak. [Editor's Note: Don't even get me started on the fact that there's no opposition for FUSA President]

I'm talking about the most recent Nike/Inside Lacrosse poll, which listed Fairfield among the teams that also received votes (albeit, one). Wonder if that one vote was UDel coach Bob Shlinglaw. The Stags also received recognition in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Coaches' Poll. Ohio State, the team's next opponent, sits at 18 in that poll.

Another number to chew on: LaxPower's rankings, an RPI-like ranking that combines overall record, strength of schedule, and, ranks the Stags at 29 overall. The team directly above them?

The Ohio State Buckeyes.

Live Game Blog: Fairfield vs. Hofstra

2009-02-21T18:59:00.001-05:00

Fairfield vs. Hofstra Live Blog

Men's Lacrosse vs. Delaware

2009-02-21T12:49:00.001-05:00

A beautiful day for Fairfield University Lacrosse

2009-02-21T12:44:00.005-05:00

I'll start the first spring blog of the year with that quote in the title, something my old high school lacrosse coach used to say everyday during warm-ups on gameday (except switch FU with 'Bergen Catholic'). In any event, it is a fairly nice day for the end of February.

Here's a few pre-game notes:

Andy Copelan, first game. You know the deal.
While this is the Stags first regular season game of the season, Delaware has already seen action twice this year. Following a season-opening win over St. Joseph (Pa.), the Fightin' Blue Hens dropped a game to UMBC, 15-7, who currently sit at #11 in the LaxPower national rankings.
Delaware and Fairfield have played one another three times in the season series; UDel has won all three games.
Rookie attackman John Snellman, currently slated to start at attack, was named a preseason ECAC Co-Rookie of the Year. Another talented, young offensive player for Fairfield, joining Doug Kuring and Ryan Mulford as the Fairfield "different look".
Speaking of Doug Kuring, it sounds as if he will be out today because of a rolled ankle. Tough blow for a young group, but the attack is relatively green to begin with. That news from Fairfield S.I.D. Chris O'Connor.
No word on goalkeeper yet, but my money would be on second-year man Joe Marra. [UPDATE: Freshman Charlie Cipriano from Williston Park, NY is starting in net. Shows how much we know here at 'The Mirror']

LIVE from Harbor Yard: FU/NU

2009-02-14T19:35:00.003-05:00

Men's Basketball vs. Niagara

That's E-S-P-N

2009-02-14T14:11:00.003-05:00

Our quirky, die-hard friends over at the Scout.com message boards are trying to come up with the ideal Fairfield-related 'ESPN' acronym for tonight's game on the Deuce. Creative... so Tom and I figured - eh, let's give it a shot and get in on the fun:

1. Everybody knows the Stags will Pound Niagara
2. Eatin' Some Poultry (i.e. purple eagles) Tonight
3. Evanovich Shaves Pretty Neckbeard
4. Edney Screams, Patella Nagging
5. Ed Shushes Patsos Nonsense
6. Ed Shows-off Polished Necktie
7. Every Stag Please 'No-get-hurt'
8. Even assistant coach Bob Simon Protects Nero injury
9. Ed Cooley Studies and Prepares for Northwestern Med School ["I should be an MD" - Cooley on team's injuries]

Chime in with some thoughts and keep it up, boys.

A Fairfield/Marist Running Diary? I think so!

2009-02-14T12:41:00.004-05:00

College kids and Thursday nights are infamous. Some go home for the weekend, some study, some visit their local watering home. Me? I travel with our own Tom Cleary to PoTown to catch the Stags face Marist. I summoned my inner Bill Simmons and (attempt to be funny) follow the game with a running diary. Enjoy:

7:03 TC and I arrive at the McCann Center and play a little cat-and-mouse game with the parking attendants at Marist. We go through this every game, for some reason. At the gate, we were told to continue to the parking lot closest to the gym. Moments later, they blocked us from the VIP Parking and told us to go to student parking all the way on the other side of campus. Long story short, Tom and I pulled the ‘media parking’ card, got a grand tour of the Hudson Valley, and then parked next to the Stags’ Dattco bus. Now that’s dedication.

Once we got inside, we were greeted by some screaming and yelling Marist cheerleaders, who handed me a game program and a free alarm clock courtesy of the school’s AD. Why can’t we get that kind of treatment at Harbor Yard? Imagine Lucas the Stag giving out day-by-day calendars and taking pictures as you walked in? But in all honest, Hutch, you’re doing great.

Guacamo’s Pizza in the media room, a local classic for those of you from Poughkeepsie or know friends that go to Marist. I’m not sure what it is, but there is just something about pizza in New York. No offense to the Nutmeg State, but it is the equivalent of watching the JV team or the varsity: they’re close, but they’re not quite there yet. Maybe it’s the water (as my old grandma always said), maybe it’s the Italian influence, maybe it’s that once you cross the border into New England it’s illegal to do so. But it’s there and it’s real.

Speaking of JV team, a Marist radio broadcaster drops a heart-werenching line to Stags’ fans in the media room: “We can’t lose this game. This isn’t even their varsity team”. Has it really gotten to that point?

7:22 Marist takes the court to… “Knock on wood” by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Am I missing something here? Does Notre Dame come out of the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium to Radiohead or STP? Does UNC come onto the floor listening to Sound Garden. When did mediocre 90’s alternative rock become the go-to song for D-I college basketball?

Speaking of which, what does this say for the future of fight songs and pump-up band music in our future? Are we supposed to prepare ourselves for the days when the Stags take the court to the All-American Rejects when we’re forty. I’ll be long retired by then

7:25 Women’s game score update #1. Sensing a trend

7:33 Big Ed emerges from the locker room looking spiffy as always. He takes a drink of water at the end of the bench. Given Tom’s most recent column, I can’t help but wonder if it was to wash down a Tums.

7:36 Stirring national anthem from the Marist Pep Band, clearly trying to make amends for the Bosstones slip-up. The Marist production people follow that up with Jordan-esque lineup calls and ‘Sirus’ from the Allan Parsons Project. I’m a fan of the atmosphere. Meanwhile, the announcer clearly has been drinking Red Bull and popping Osi Umenyora’s Five-Hour Energy pills all day. No other man should ever get that excited saying the name “Ryan Schneider”. No one.

7:38 In a stunning turn events, the band director comes onto the court and begins to dance. The players are then hushed to the sidelines as the ban director leads a chorus of singing in the middle of the court. Marist. I know you’re trying. But I know Ohio State. I’ve worked with Ohio State. And you, sir, are no Ohio State.

As a side note, is there anything funnier than a sixty-five year old man with his pants as high as Steve Urkel screaming, “Scratch em! Claw ‘em!” five feet from Ed Cooley? I’m pretty sure he didn’t laugh that hard the first time he watched “Coming to America” And what do you do if you’re a Marist player on the court waiting while this guy is singing? I’m pretty sure you put your head down and wonder if you were one sprint, one rep, one shot away from being up the Thruway at a Big East school.

7:41 Tom mentions that Lyndon Jordan is not on the bench. Clearly we’re off our game to have not noticed this until three minutes into the game. “That sucks,” he adds. Well put, sir.

7:42 Cooley takes a timeout after Ryan Olander egregiously misses an open assignment. He gave Olander one of those Ralph Kramden looks and, predictably, tells Ryan to pop a squat next to associate head coach Bob Simon. Oh, freshman. “One of these days, Ryan!”

7:43 Women’s basketball update, number two: Marist leads Fairfield, 29-20, on the Guacomo’s out-of-town scoreboard. Obsessed, much? I’m pretty sure the entire Hudson River Valley will go into a coma if this team doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament later next month. It’ll be worse than the Red Sox comeback in 2004. Worse than the ‘Miracle at the Meadowland’. Worse than the time the raccoon got stuck in the copier.

7:44 Herbie Allen drains a three-pointer to put the Stags on the board. So much for the injured wrist that ‘The Mirror’ reported earlier this afternoon. What are we paying these guys for, anyway? Dejuan Goodwin answers on the other end to push the Marist lead to seven.

Jacked-up announcer guy makes arguably the greatest media timeout call I’ve ever heard: “Timeout…. Timeout.” Watch your back, Michael Buffer. This guy’s a mover-and-shaker.

7:48 Ryan Schneider drives on Greg Nero, who looks like my grandfather trying to keep up with him and trail his man to the basket. Seriously, I don’t think anyone realized how hurt this man has been playing all season. You can see it in his mannerisms. On a related note, I hope CC Sabathia is taking notes.

7:49 Just as I stop typing, Nero drains a three. He’s a gamer. Simmons was right. Maybe Neroisms are the next big thing on North Benson. Did you know that Greg Nero doesn’t read books? He stares at them until the knowledge comes to him telepathically.

7:52 Dejuan Goodwin hits a three, resulting in Ed nearly taking off his jacket. For those of you that don’t know or aren’t fans of our blog, Cooley takes his jacket off when he’s really, really irked. In his first season at Fairfield, I think his average “Jacket on the back of a chair” time was well over 30 minutes a night. With a much improve team, though, he’s far more reserved on the bench – and likely helping his wallet from incessant dry cleaning bills. He may turn back the clock tonight if this keeps up.

7:55 Sean Crawford drains a three, and Chuck Martin burns a timeout to discuss the defensive miscue. Now that Tom and I think about it a little more, Frank Romano’s “Crawford is our Stephon Curry” sounds a little bit better right about now.

7:58 Another nice play by Crawford as he picks Schneider’s pocket in the glass and causes a turnover. He, like most of the Fairfield guards is awfully raw, but at the very least this group will be battle tested going into March and into the future.

Speak of those pesky underclassmen, Ryan Olander hits a fifteen-footer, displaying some of the range that Ed Cooley spoke of in our meeting of Tuesday. “He could be one of the best that’s ever played here,” Cooley said.

8:06 Despite a switch to a 1-3-1 zone to prevent things like that from happening, Ryan Schneider drains a three and pushes the Marist lead to ten points, the highest of the night. And for those of you at home playing the “Marist hits a three” drinking game, you probably should quit while you’re ahead. [Editor’s Note: Schneider hit another three-point shot literally ninety seconds later, as in three possessions. You can’t make this stuff up]

8:19 As the Stags take the court to warm up for the second half, the Marist Pep Band breaks out the Dropkick Murphy’s, causing Tom to think of the bygone glory days of Troy O’Leary, Lou Merloni, and John Valentin. Ah, Red Sox fans. Hope springs eternal. [Another minute, another scoreboard check. We’re on pace for over twenty here, people. That has to be some sort of record.]

8:36 Sign of the Apocalypse if you are a Fairfield fan: forward Greg Nero emerged from the locker room in a grey jumpsuit and a handbag. The man practically played crippled tonight, and you have to wonder if the bang and bruises are just beginning to take a toll. As we speak, the Fairfield bench is now down to seven men. Seven. If they shut him down for this season, this team may not win another game all season.

8:41 Sign of the Apocalyse, Part Deux: Mike Evanovich begs, pleads, and implores Jamal Crawford to give him the ball in the post. This is where it gets good: Crawford actually gives him the ball, and Evanovich makes a halfway decent move and scores. [Marist leads, 45-29 with 15:37 to play] Back courtside at the press table, Tom and I are considering writing about spring training in next week’s issue to avoid manic depression. At the very least, we may take a side trip to Mohegan Sun on the right home from PoTown just to ease the pain. Oh, the humanity.

Speaking of Evanovich, what’s with the beard? It’s not a full beard, given that there is no moustache. But it’s an awfully suspect impression of a chin strap and it is bordering on neckbeard territory, dangerous waters for any self-respecting gentleman. Tom can’t seem to figure out what it is either. I say we name it. I’m thinking, “The 41 Special”. No, wait, “The Iowa State ‘Stache.” Feel free to chime in with names if you’re actually reading this blog.

8:54 Evanovich, from the top of the arc, lobs a gorgeous alley-oop pass to Yorel Hawkins, who slams it down with authority – a much needed shot of momentum for Fairfield. Who is this guy anyway? He posts up. He catches. He shoots. He passes. He goes down stairs.

9:07 The Stags are on a mini-run and pull to within fourteen. On a fastbreak, Yorel Hawkins whiffs on a fastbreak lay-up opportunity, causing his head coach to put his head in his hands and scream. Can somebody pass the Tums?

9:27 Yorel Hawkins is forced to foul Korey Bauer to keep Fairfield’s grim hopes at a win alive. It was Hawkins fifth foul of the evening. He immediately yanked his jersey out of its typical tucked-in mode. When did this become the standard in basketball? I’m blaming Rasheed Wallace, somehow.

9:29 With 33 seconds remaining in regulation, I’ll let you decide which scenario is more surreal: a) Sean Grzeck with four fouls, b) Jimmy O’Sullivan calling for “one more” on an offensive play and getting it, or c) all of the above.

9:31 David Devezin drains two free throws to push the Marist lead back to eight. “That should seal it,” Tom proclaims. For the game? Probably. For this blog post? Yes, sir.

9:48 But, wait! There's more. Here's Ed Cooley's top four lines from an unfortgettable post-game press conference: 1) "We took too many 'Christers' tonight: a three-pointer that you hate it from the second it leaves they're hand and hope to Christ it goes in," 2) "Lyndon looked sick as a dog when I saw him today. I had to drive him home. He said, "Coach, I think I just pee'd myself'," 3) "Nero looked at me and said he wanted to play. How can I coach not respect and love that kind of fire?," 4) Zero turnovers? I'm pretty sure Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles were doing the scoring," and, last but not least:

5) "We're going to be a scary, scary team up in Albany. My focus is to get our team ready for three days in March. Trust me, you're not going to want to be the team that plays us come the MAAC tournament."

Back from Marist/Nero possibly out for year

2009-02-13T01:58:00.004-05:00

Just got back from the Stags tough loss to Marist in Poughkeepsie, where unfortunately there was no wireless internet, so we could not use CoverItLive. But Keith Connors did keep a running diary, a la Bill Simmons, and will post it tomorrow.

A lot more tomorrow, but for now just a few notes from the game/post game:

First of all the Stags committed zero turnovers, a big step up from the last time the Fairfield played. Although in the press conference head coach Ed Cooley questioned the zero turnovers stat, saying that "Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder" may have been keeping score.

Also, the Stags could not seem to stop the Red Foxes from shooting from long range, and made multiple mistakes on the other end, which cost them the game. Herbie Allen and Mike Evanovich continue to step up, scoring 21 and 18 respectively, in the 75-66 loss, but those two cannot continue to carry this team.

And the biggest news from Poughkeepsie is that junior forward Greg Nero, who left the game after the half and did not return, may be the latest Stags player to be out for the remainder of the season. While Cooley said he wasn't sure whether he would be shut down or not, he thinks it is possible he will not play again this season, whether that includes the post season or just the regular season was unclear.

Cooley was upbeat, as upbeat as possible, but was more in disbelief of the way things have gone lately for Fairfield, with the injuries and illness. But he stressed that he will make sure that his squad is a difficult team to play in Albany.

Again, Nero may be out for the year, which would be another huge loss for Fairfield.

-Tom Cleary

Basketball vs. Marist

2009-02-12T19:12:00.004-05:00

&amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=bf41bd2863"&amp;gt;Basketball vs. Marist&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

Allen likely to ride the pine

2009-02-12T13:56:00.003-05:00

Just a brief follow-up from Tom's blog post last night: all indications from head coach Ed Cooley on Tuesday afternoon indicated that senior guard Herbie Allen (very sick, not to mention banged up) is likely to sit out tonight's game. Allen logged 36 minutes and totaled six points in the Stags' win over Marist on Jan. 30.

Allen has missed a few games this year due to a nagging wrist injury suffered on Jan. 17 against Siena.

Then again, junior forward Greg Nero was supposed to sit against Manhattan. Cooley said he couldn't help but play him after the Nero begged from the sidelines in an attempt to create a spark (Nero did play the second half and nearly spurred a second-half comeback). If the Stags are in dire straits again tonight, it wouldn't shock me to see the senior step up in a similar fashion.

More to come from Po-Town.

Odds and Ends/Preview of Marist Game

2009-02-12T00:40:00.002-05:00

My column about the Jon Han dismissal and the Stags past few games went online today at the Fairfield Mirror Web site. The column came after spending the day trying to track Han down to do an interview with him and a long conversation that Keith Connors and I had with head coach Ed Cooley in his office on Tuesday afternoon. Walking into the office, just about 15-20 minutes before practice, Cooley had his head in his hands and began by talking about how stressful the past week or so has been, with the Han situation coupled with the fact he had watched another player unable to play, Herbie Allen.

According to Cooley, Allen was going to sit out of practice for most of this week and he hopes he can play at Marist, but he came down with the flu in Buffalo and was too sick to play during the game against the Purple Eagles. As of now, Allen plans to travel to Poughkeepsie with the team, but it is up in the air as to whether or not he will play.

Most of my conversation, which focused on the amount of injuries the Stags have had to overcome and the difficult decision that Cooley had to make regarding Han, can be read in my column or Keith's article, but there were a few other interesting points that Cooley brought up.

Cooley on the team's performance over the weekend: "Against Canisius I thought we controlled the tempo of the game. The one thing I think we have done really well is defend. We’ve defended really good, with man, zone and pressure, that has been good. We have controlled the game defensively. Offensively I think we are getting a lot of contributions from a lot of people. I thought that was great for the three games we had success, but against Niagara we just did not have enough experience on the floor against a very talented offensive team. To beat them on their floor in a building as loud as that was. We just did not have enough game experience to compete."
Based off of that, Cooley talked about the fact that the top four teams in the MAAC rarely use freshmen in key situations, maybe except Rider, which plays Novar Gadson about 20 minutes per game. He brought up Matt Ryan, the former BC Eagles QB as an example of someone who excelled in his first-year as a pro. He said he is a "great kid" who would always say hello on campus. Based on the conversation it seems that he values a player like Ryan who is likable, a good leader and is an ambassador for the program.
He also gave high praise to freshman center Ryan Olander, again using the "ambassador" phrase, saying he is a nice kid, who is also a 4.0 student and has the potential to be one of the best big men in school history, based on his pure basketball skills. Cooley said: "I’ve coached a lot of great big men, but he has what they don’t. He needs to get a little stronger, but he catches, he passes, at 6’11 that’s not paper height, he’s a long joker."
Cooley talked a lot about how great of a learning experience this has been for him as a young coach. He said that he had to revert back to some of the strategies he used to motivate during his first two years as a coach, because it is a much younger, much more inexperienced team than when this year started. He has a lot of work ahead of him, but he is proud of the way his players have come together at this point and he made that obvious.

As for the Marist game, the Stags are going to be facing a very different team than they did at the Arena at Harbor Yard. With David Devezin on the court, the Red Foxes are a lot smoother offensively. That will make it harder on the Stags to cover long-range shooter Ryan Schneider and they already had a hard time doing that in the last game. Plus, the McCann Center is never a fun place to play. Fairfield should win this game if they are healthy, a point Cooley stressed. Health is the key to the end of this season. This will be a key game, as the Stags will have uphill battles against both Rider and Niagara and are already in a dogfight for fourth place in the MAAC. Fairfield needs to win this game and the Manhattan game later this month if it has any chance of avoiding the sixth seed and a matchup with either Rider or Niagara in the first round.

The Mirror will be traveling up to Marist for the game tomorrow night and will bring you live coverage from the McCann Center. Also, Chris Simmons will be bringing you coverage of the huge women's showdown against Marist at Alumni Hall in a game that should decide who will win first-place in the MAAC .

Huge day for Fairfield basketball tomorrow, should be a fun one.

-Tom Cleary

Han officially leaves team

2009-02-09T17:20:00.003-05:00

According to a press release sent out this afternoon by Fairfield Sports Information Director Jack Jones, Jonathan Han has made the decision to leave the team and will not play the remainder of the season. Han will finish his senior year academically and will graduate with his class. The release stated that he is leaving for "personal reasons."

Han missed four games following an argument with assistant coach Brian Blaney after the Stags loss to Manhattan on Jan. 26 in Riverdale. Han was suspended indefinitely on Jan. 29 for "violation of team policy," and according to the CT Post's Chris Elsberry met with head coach Ed Cooley prior to the trip to Buffalo on Thursday night. He was given an ultimatum, according to Elsberry, that stated he could either sign a statement saying he was leaving the team or that he was suspended for the rest of the season.

More on the story as news comes in. Here is the full release:

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Jonathan Han, a senior guard on the Fairfield
University men's basketball team, has decided to leave the Fairfield
University men's basketball team for personal reasons and will not play
the remainder of the season. The decision was announced Monday
afternoon.

Han was suspended indefinitely on January 29 for a violation of
team policy and missed the last four games played by the team. After
taking time to examine the situation further, Han decided not to return
for the final five regular season games or any post-season play.

Han finished his Fairfield University career with 1,072 points
and 526 assists in 110 games. His scoring total ranks 27th all-time at
Fairfield, while his assist total places third all-time in school
history.

"I appreciate what Jon has done for the Fairfield University
men's basketball program," Head Coach Ed Cooley said. "We will continue
to support Jon with his academic goal of earning a degree from Fairfield
University."

Han will remain a student at Fairfield University and will be
afforded the academic support services available to all student athletes
for the remainder of the school year.

-Tom Cleary

Han's Time is Done?

2009-02-08T22:17:00.004-05:00

Monday is supposed to be D-Day on the future of Stags' point guard Jon Han, marking the end of one of the strangest subplots in recent memory. Today, Ben Doody of the Trentonian had a fantastic blog post on the strange ride that has been Han's collegiate career. Seems like an eternity ago that Cooley spoke so glowingly of Han after that American double-overtime game in Alumni Hall, his first game as a head coach.

That was also my first game as a beat writer for 'The Mirror', so that game holds a big soft spot in my heart.

A few thoughts:

Originally, 'The Mirror' heard from a few anonymous sources that Han had decided to leave the team permanently following the shouting match with assistant coach Brian Blaney and the Manhattan game on Jan. 26. The sources also said that he was moving to Puerto Rico as soon as possible to pursue a career in the National Superior Basketball League.
Those day after rumors made it seem as if Han was done. Perhaps these initial sources exaggerated the story, but, looking back, they may not be all too far from the truth. Keep in mind that Han has not been seen or heard from since that night. He most certainly has not been banging down Ed Cooley's door to get back on the team. Which is an intriguing question to ask: Does Han even care, at this point, about Fairfield basketball?
Cooley, according to Chris Elsberry of the Connecticut Post, gave Han an ultimatum to sign one of two documents: one accepting a season-long suspension, or the other stating that he was choosing to leave the team for personal reasons. If this is true (which we should learn within the next 24 hours), then our initial suspicions from those rumors - which at the time seems ludicrous- were true: Han has played his last game as a Stag.
How bizarre is it to think back to the Siena game? In case you forgot, Han received a commemorative 1000th point ball from Cooley at half-court just before the tip. A surreal scene, if you look at it now. That's probably as close as those two may ever come again.
Lyndon Jordan put up 15 points (5-of-12 from the field) against Niagara on Sunday, a 75-50 loss in Buffalo. The more glaring stat: Fairfield turned the ball over 21 times (3 for Jordan, 5 for Sean Crawford, and 2 for Jamal Turner). Han may be Fairfield's answer to Tiki Barber/New York Giants circa 2007, a clubhouse lawyer whose abscence equals addition by subtraction. But keep in mind the G-Men had Brandon Jacobs and Derek Ward waiting in the wings. With guard depth an issue, his absence is certainly going to be felt over the next few weeks.

Bust it, baby

2009-02-03T21:01:00.002-05:00

A look at the 2009 Bracketbuster matchups for the Stags and their MAAC counterparts, released yesterday by ESPN:

Northern Iowa at Siena (TV)
Illinois State at Niagara (TV)
UMBC at Rider
Hofstra at Fairfield (TV)
Manhattan at William & Mary
Loyola at Drexel
Iona at Boston University
Canisius at Bowling Green
Hartford at Marist
Saint Peter’s at Youngstown State

Fairfield vs. Loyola Men's Basketball Game Blog

2009-02-01T13:53:00.004-05:00

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=9fea6929af"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Fairfield vs. Loyola Men's Basketball Live Blog&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

One day later

2009-01-31T15:02:00.002-05:00

Less than 24 hours after a press release announcing the loss of three key players rattled the foundation of the men's basketball team, the Stags came out and showed their true colors. They smiled, they hugged, they cheered each other on and most importantly for their damaged psyches: they won.

With Anthony "Peanut" Johnson in the hospital with a career-threatening and season-ending chest problem and Jon Han sitting at home it would have been easy for Fairfield to come out flat, minds elsewhere, unable to concentrate. It seemed that was what would happen when the Stags fell behind big in the first half, down 14 points, but then a funny thing happened. They started to play like they have always known how. They were loose, they were happy and they battled.

It was one of the most impressive Stags victories I have seen in what is now my third year covering the team. They played their hearts out. Coach Ed Cooley was like a proud papa, beaming on the sideline the entire game, while in the back of his mind he was surely thinking about Peanut. There are a lot of similarities between Cooley and Peanut. Both overcame a difficult childhood. Both of them love to smile. And both of them play/coach with a tenacity that is unmatched. It was hard to watch Peanut struggle on the court since the UConn game, knowing he was banged up and bruised. He couldn't go for rebounds the same way, he winced when he made thunderous dunks that set off the crowd. Cooley could see something was wrong and it turns out it was much worse than anyone could have thought.

Now the Stags face a quick turnaround and yet another game that could decide the direction of this season. The athletic department is marketing the game as "Good vs. Evil, Cooley vs. Patsos." Loyola vs. Fairfield is always a fun game to watch and with the amount of drama that has flowed through the Stags this past week, this one should be even better than the past.

Meanwhile the Greyhounds are also feeling good, coming off of a win over the Rider Broncs which puts both the Stags and Loyola at 6-5 in the MAAC.

No matter what happens, the game will be entertaining for sure.

-Tom Cleary

Fairfield vs. Marist Live Blog

2009-01-30T19:33:00.002-05:00

&amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=3606b215c9"&amp;gt;Fairfield vs. Marist GLOG&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

From bad to worse

2009-01-29T21:49:00.002-05:00

Breaking news from North Benson Rd., via tSports and Information Director Jack Jones:

"FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Fairfield University Head Men's Basketball Coach Ed Cooley announced that senior guard Jonathan Han, junior forward Anthony Johnson, and sophomore forward Warren Edney will be out of the lineup for a period of time beginning with Friday night's game against Marist College.

Han has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team policy and will miss at least the next two games.

Junior forward Anthony Johnson was diagnosed with a medical condition that will keep him out of the lineup for the remainder of the season.

Sophomore forward Warren Edney will miss the remainder of the season due to a severely sprained ankle.

The Stags will host Marist College on Friday, January 30 and Loyola College on Sunday, February 1 at the Arena at Harbor Yard."

_______________________________________________

More to come as the story progresses.

Anthony Johnson in hospital

2009-01-29T20:02:00.003-05:00

According to Anthony Johnson's Facebook, he is in the hospital "for a few days," with a blood clot in his lungs. No word from the team yet on his condition, but The Mirror is working to find out more information and will put it on the blog as soon as it is possible.

The 6'8 junior center from Lake Wales Fla. has struggled in his past few games and in a conversation with head coach Ed Cooley yesterday, Cooley said that Johnson has been playing "banged up" for the past few games, since the UConn game back on Dec. 26.

Men's Basketball at Manhattan

2009-01-26T18:52:00.002-05:00

Wanna make a million?

2009-01-26T16:42:00.002-05:00

Then pick Fairfield (or Manhattan)! The Stags and the Jaspers are one of three men's college basketball games available to select from tonight on ESPN's Beat the Streak, an interactive online game in which contestants must successfully predict the outcome of games. No spreads, no bonuses - just wins and losses. A streak of 25 games correctly predicted could net you a million dollars.

I know - another random post, but I must say that it is pretty cool to see Fairfield and a Monday Night MAAC game get a little national pub.

See you in Riverdale.

The MAAC midway

2009-01-26T00:15:00.002-05:00

National sports news outlet the Bleacher Report recently summed up the first half of the MAAC season, and, not surprisingly, realized that Siena is doing pretty good. Here's what they had to see about our Stags:

"Fairfield has an upcoming stretch of four must-win games against Manhattan, Marist, Loyola, and Canisius. The games against Manhattan and Canisius are on the road, and Fairfield needs to win those games to prove that they belong in the upper third."

Must-wins? That's an understatement. My only beef with the piece was the summary of Fairfield's two "close" games with Siena. Sure, New Year's Day was a quality game - even without a healthy Warred Edney - but the Bleacher Creatures clearly missed game two. As for the rest of the story, I'm buying the Chuck Martin and the '09 Marist team to last year's Stags comparison. Intriguing.

Fairfield vs. Rider Game Blog

2009-01-23T19:29:00.001-05:00

Herbie and History

2009-01-23T12:47:00.002-05:00

A few links prior to our gameday coverage:

William Paxton is reporting that Fairfield guard Herbie Allen is out for tonight's game against Rider at Alumni Hall. We have yet to confirm this, however. Sean Grzeck will also miss his second consecutive game. Greg Nero is listed as questionable but is expected to play.
Can't get enough Ben Doody? Check out this link of a phenomenal piece he wrote on the historic implications of Barack Obama's inauguration, as seen through the eyes of head coach Ed Cooley.
Shameless plug: If you liked Ben's responses yesterday, be sure to read my counterpoint to our Q&A on his always Trentonian College Basketball blog.

More to come.

Doody Calls - Part Deux

2009-01-22T16:19:00.002-05:00

I love when Rider plays Fairfield.

First, truth be told, I'm a Jersey Boy, and have queitly enjoyed the renaissance this south New Jersey school has experienced over the past several years - even though I'm a Stag true and true. In addition, a Fairfield/Rider game now has a lot of implications on MAAC standings and postseason seedings. Plus, this year's contest moves from an exit of I-95 to North Benson Road, a far cry from the meaningless games of year's past at Alumni Hall against Yale and St. Peter's College.

More importantly, though, it is the return of an old friend of ours, Ben Doody, who currently is a beat writer (Rutgers football and Rider basketball) and assistant sports editor at The Trentonian.

Here's our second annual 'Doody Calls' Q and A leading into the 'Clash on Campus' tomorrow evening. Enjoy:

1. Based on the team's preseason ranking, has Rider exceeded/disappointed from your perspective?

Right now, the teams picked in the top four in the preseason coaches' poll are all in the top four, but in a different order, with Niagara (fourth in the poll) in second place, Fairfield (second in the poll) in third and Rider (third in the poll) in fourth. So I guess strictly based on the polls, you'd have to say Rider and Fairfield have slightly underachieved. But based on their own expectations, the Broncs aren't happy being 4-3, just like I'm sure the Stags aren't happy being 5-3.

2. Is Ryan Thompson well on his way to becoming the best player in the MAAC? How vital is he to the Broncs' success?

Is he on his WAY to being the best player in the league? Maybe.

Is he right now? I don't think you could say that because I think if you put Kenny Hasbrouck or Edwin Ubiles on Rider, either one would average as many or more points as Thompson, and if you put Thompson on Siena, his numbers would be down for the same reason Hasbrouck's and Ubiles' are: they have to share the ball with each other and with Alex Franklin.

That isn't to say he doesn't have good parts around him. Harris Mansell still might be the best catch-and-shoot guy in the league (Ed Cooley told me yesterday he thinks that's the case) and Mike Ringgold can be tough to stop in the low post. But if Thompson has an off day in a MAAC game, it'll take something really, really big from somebody else for Rider to win.

I think Thompson will be a first-team all-MAAC pick and that more than half of Rider's games next year will be attended by NBA scouts. So if you're Thompson, that's a good position to be in entering your senior year.

3. Given the graduation of Jason Thompson, doesn't head coach TommyDempsey deserve a lot of credit for the fact that this team is onceagain in contention for the MAAC championship?

He certainly built a team that could survive without Jason and that will probably be really good next year, when essentially everyone but Mansell will be back. I think we'll have to wait until the end of the year to evaluate how he did with this particular group.

4. Name a player on Rider most Fairfield fans have never really heard about, but will notice tomorrow night.

That's a tough one, because it depends what kind of Fairfield fan you're talking about. I bet some of the students who'll be in the Hall have never heard of Ryan Thompson, but JoeStag has heard of Pat Mansell and Robbie Meyers. I'll go with freshman forward Novar Gadson, who's averaging just shy of 10 points per game and will be in the MAAC Rookie of the Year discussion at the end of the year. What a lot of fans probably don't know is that he broke Joe "Jelleybean" Bryant's career scoring record at John Bartram High in Philadelphia. You may have heard of Jelleybean's son, Kobe.

5. As a Fairfield alum, what are your feelings on Fairfield's playthus far this season? Are you at all surprised by Siena's sweep of theStags?

Let's face it: the loss at home to Siena was sickening to Fairfield fans. Absolutely sickening. If you're really the second best team in the league, you don't let the No. 1 team in the league come into your building and absolutely take the place over. It's just inexcusable, and if you don't believe me, ask Ed Cooley.

I'm not necessarily surprised Siena swept the series, but I'm surprised last Saturday's game was so lopsided. With that said, a win tomorrow night and they're 6-3 in the league. That's certainly not a bad place to be.

6. I have to bring it up: Harbor Yard vs. Alumni Hall.

In a way, it's a lose-lose situation.

Harbor Yard is the easiest venue to play in for a visiting team in the MAAC, and you'll have a hard time finding a coach, player of AD who will tell you otherwise. Even if you get 3,000 people there and they make some noise, it doesn't compare to having 2,500 on campus in that noisy little band box.

But Alumni Hall is not a Division I college basketball facility. Everything from the stands to the locker rooms would need significant upgrades if they were ever going to move back there full time, and I doubt that will happen, especially given the school's commitment to Harbor Yard. And I can all but guarantee you that if they played every game there, they wouldn't sell out every game. Go back and look at the attendance figures from the 80s and 90s and compare them to what they've been for the couple of games they've played there over the last couple of years. If the novelty were to wear off, the place wouldn't be packed every night unless the team was REALLY worth watching.

What I'd like to see happen is for the school to build a 4,000-seat arena on campus that could also serve as a convention center. But with the lack of land on campus, the town's strict zoning regulations and the state of the economy, that's not going to happen any time soon.

So here's my proposed solution: 1) Win; 2) Win some more; 3) Make sure that the students are well aware that you're winning and that they're missing out if they don't show up.

7. Does either team - Fairfield or Rider - have a legitimate chance of cutting down the nets at the Times-Union Center come March?

Yes.

I wouldn't be shocked if Siena ran the table in the regular season, or if after a while they started receiving votes in the Top 25. And they'll be playing on their home court, with bigger and louder crowds than the ones they attract in the regular season. You could argue that even without the double bye that teams used to have, they'll be the biggest favorite entering the tournament in league history.

But no one's invincible. How many people, for instance, thought undefeated Ball State would lose to Buffalo in the MAC championship football game? Or that the undefeated Patriots would lose to the Giants last year in the Super Bowl? I could go on and on.

Fairfield and Rider both played them tight in Albany and both are capable of doing the same thing in March. Were they to do that, then get a few lucky bounces down the stretch, they could slay Siena and cut down the nets.

Fairfield vs. Siena Live Blog

2009-01-17T15:33:00.000-05:00

Men's basketball: Stags lead Canisius 31-28 at halftime

2009-01-11T16:25:00.003-05:00

It's halftime at the Harbor and after a slow start to the half and then a chippy end, the Stags have taken a 31-28 lead into the halftime break over the Golden Griffs. Both Fairfield head coach Ed Cooley and Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta received technical fouls, along with Stags point guard Jon Han, who was arguing a non-foul call.

The Stags are led in scoring by sophomore forward Yorel Hawkins and junior forward Mike Evanovich who each have nine points. Jon Han chipped in six points, but has three fouls.

Fairfield trailed early by as much as nine (15-6 with 11:14 remaining), but fought back led by three straight three-pointers by Evanovich.

The Stags are shooting just 24 percent from the floor, but are 16-for-17 from the foul line. Hawkins went 7-for-7 in the half.

More to come at the conclusion of the game.

-Tom Cleary

Change of plans

2009-01-06T17:03:00.003-05:00

In honor of new Yankees' first baseman Mark Teixeira, we've had a little change of plans here at the Mirror Sports Blog. Due to Tom Cleary feeling under the weather and the inclement weather heading straight for West Point/Northern New Jersey and Southern CT, the live blog from West Point has - sadly - been postponed.

Think of it as a little Teixeira-esque last minute decision.

But I'll be sure to blog a recap and some reactions, as well as thoughts on tonight's big time MAAC game between Siena and Kansas.

Stay tuned. And keep in mind that in the coming months, neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall stop our live coverage - including when Jimmy Patsos comes to town this coming Friday night when the Greyhounds battle the Stags.

[Photo Credit: New York Daily News]

Next Stop: West Point

2009-01-06T00:11:00.002-05:00

O.K., so New Rochelle wasn't exactly what we expected. These things happen. Perhaps the Stags can use a little old fashioned military wake-up tomorrow against the Army. Out-of-conference games are never shoe-ins, but this seems like an opportune time for Fairfield to end the snide before it's all MAAC, all the time.

The best part? I'll be there in person, blogging the game live from the hallowed grounds of West Point. Check local listings.

Practically predictable in every way

2009-01-03T12:52:00.004-05:00

Following the Stags' six-point loss to Siena at the Times-Union Center on New Year's Day, head coach Ed Cooley left nothing to the imagination:

"I thought defensively we played like (expletive)," Cooley said. "We were just terrible defensively. I couldn't believe I was coaching that game. (Shoot), somebody should've kicked me in the (behind)."

I've always felt that Cooley has had the unique ability of being able to "push the players' buttons" at the right time. Despite the fact that the Stags probably should have blown Fordham or Drexel out of the water, Cooley was calm, cool, and relaxed at the post-game. Why? It was a game Fairfield should have won. And they did.

This time around, though, despite Warren Edney's bad Achilles' tendon and Jon Han's incessant foul trouble, Cooley made it known that Fairfield's effort was subpar from start to finish. I couldn't help but notice that his harsh words came after a game that, while "winable," is certainly one that no one should have penciled in as a Stags win beforehand.

On the road, against the defending conference champions, in front of a large crowd on New Year's Day? Siena is supposed to win those games, not Fairfield.

Perhaps it was Ed's way of saying that this team has been far too predictable, for better or for words. Every winable game - and I'm including the team's early-season road win over Holy Cross, Alumni Hall W over American, and the team's win over Chattanooga in Puerto Rico as a winable games - has gone in favor of the Stags.

Conversely, every game Fairfield should have lost, it either fumbled away in the game's final minutes (see: Siena) or been blown out of the water (see: Memphis, UConn, Va. Tech, Missouri).

Cooley, in my opinion, was sending a message: if Fairfield can't win those type of games, the games in which their backs are against the wall heading in, then maybe this team is not ready to compete for a conference title after all.

Seven Stories - Dec. 30th

2008-12-30T19:39:00.005-05:00

While the world waits for the the ball (and the curtain) to drop on 2008 - and Stags' fans salivate over the upcoming Siena showdown in Albany on Thursday - here's a post to pass the time featuring what I've been reading today:

North Jersey's own (and Don Bosco grad) Mike Teel and Rutgers looked awfully impressive in the aptly named papajohns.com Bowl, downing NC State, 29-23. Fairfield's own Ben Doody looks at the strange parallels between this year's team and the Rutger's squad of '07. Any column of Ben's, especially one that uses the phrase "the banks of the Raritan", is worth the read. [The Trentonian; Trenton, NJ]
Plenty of Eric Mangini reactions in today's New York papers, but my favorite had to be Ian O'Connor's critique of Jets' owner Woody Johnson that included some scathing shots at Jets' general manager Mike Tennenbaum. Needless to say, I've never been prouder to be a Giants fan. [The Record; Bergen County, NJ]
Speaking of the Jets, dueling columns in the New York Daily News about Mangini's ideal replacement: Gary Myers is in love with "The Chin", while Mike Lupica wants to see "Favre/Holmgren: The Sequel". [New York Daily News]
David Neal takes a look at a site that seemed impossible a year ago: Dolphin's coaches preparing for a playoff game in Miami in late December. [Miami Herald]
The stunner of Tuesday's news stories had to be Mike Shanahan's firing in Denver. Yesterday, Woody Paige quipped: "It's more reasonable to believe Shanahan would fire (Broncos' owners) Bowlen." Today, Bowlen stepped up and made a bold statement. [Denver Post]

UConn Game Post Game Notes

2008-12-26T22:04:00.003-05:00

A couple of notes from the postgame press conferences.

From Fairfield players ... Greg Nero said it was difficult to play inside because every time he turned he still had the height right there on him and if he was able to get past one guy, there was another waiting for him ... Jon Han said that the Huskies have a "swagger" which "they deserve" because they are the number two team in the country. According to him the Stags are still looking for that swagger, but have it in a different way. He said the Stags are now focused on Siena and starting another win streak. He said the Stags like to play on the road and are well prepared to by playing road games like at Memphis and this one at UConn, so they will not be intimidated at Siena.

From Fairfield head coach Ed Cooley ... Cooley was not angry, but seemed a bit disappointed. He said that he is happy he will not have to see height like that again this season. As for Siena, as far as he knows, "Hasheem Thabeet has never walked out of their locker room." ... He said that the Stags were "beat up" inside ... Warren Edney has a sore achilles which has bothered him for two weeks and acted up during the first half.

From UConn head coach Jim Calhoun .. "Fairfield came in very well prepare defensively. I knew they ran good stuff, but defensively they really kind of stopped us from getting into any kind of motion, any kind of flow, that we would really like to do." ... He said that Greg Nero is "tough" and that Anthony Johnson is a "Big East athlete" who needs to learn to play offensively a little better ... Said that along with Niagara and Siena, the Stags are poised to make a run to the NCAA tournament ... Said that the Stags played tougher than even the Buffalo Bulls, who nearly upset UConn earlier this season.

-Tom Cleary

Fairfield vs. UConn Live Blog

2008-12-26T18:51:00.001-05:00

Back... just in time.

2008-12-26T11:49:00.003-05:00

As the leftovers make their rounds and the eggnog begins to wear off, remember that the Mirror Sports Blog is the place to be for round-the-clock coverage of the Stags in-state showdown against second ranked Connecticut tonight at XL Center in Hartford (still feels odd to type that, doesn't it?)

If you are among the unlucky few who can't make the trip (or are still at holiday family parties - myself included), pull up Santa's rocking chair and listen to Bob Huessler/follow Tom Cleary on our 'Cover it Live' tonight. I know that's what I'll be doing.

In the meantime, here are a few links for this evening:

Double the coverage from the CT Post. When we last left the Stags twelve days ago, Peanut Johnson and Greg Nero each recorded a double-double, as Fairfield edged Drexel. A few days earlier, "Late game" Lyndon drained a three in the game's waning seconds to take down Fordham. As William Paxton writes, between monumental finishes, a marquee opponent in the team's opener, and a preseason tourney, the spotlight is nothing new for this team.
As for Jim Calhoun's take: "This is probably the best in-state team we will face going back the past eight to 10 years and they have seniors and juniors in their lineup that are experienced and have played against us in this environment, so they will not be intimidated."
An even more revealing quote from Calhoun in Mike Anthony's game story in the Courant: "(Fairfield) is a classic trap game". Anthony points out that, following the game against the Stags tonight, UConn has four games against Big East opponents, including a three-game road swing against West Virginia, Cincinnati, and St. John's. Couple that with the overtime win over Gonzaga - a definitive moment for this team - and maybe there's something to this trap game thing. That is, if Fairfield is up to the task...
Game Notes: The Hartford Courant; Fairfield SID

More to come.

A trip down memory lane...

2008-12-18T21:41:00.002-05:00

Only a year ago, poor Bob Huessler was getting ragged on by the now defunct New York radio tandem, 'Mike and the Mad Dog,' about the sorry state of Farifield athletics and an ugly, ugly loss to Yale.

Hearing Mad Dog's "Was it 2-2?" quip brought me back - but it also made me think about how sweet it is has been in '09.

Seven straight heading into Christmas break? I'll take it, regardless of how close some of them were. It wasn't all that long ago that we were heading to the break losers of five straight (last year), or without a victory in Cooley's rookie season and hearing how the only positive was that the assistant coaches were well-dressed.

What a difference a year makes.

A little national attention

2008-12-18T20:36:00.002-05:00

Seven straight wins does more than build confidence; it turns heads. The Bleacher Report did a round-up of the first half of the MAAC season and named Niagara and Fairfield as the top threats to the Saints' conference crown. "As for Fairfield, they have won seven consecutive games and are the hottest team in the MAAC."

I know they have played a brutal OOC schedule - including last night's game against Pitt - but as good as the Saints are, it's apparent at this point that they're not bulletproof.

My favorite line from the article: "The Harbor Yard Arena is always a difficult place to play in the conference, and the Stags are already 5-0 in Bridgeport this season."

Ah, Harbor Yard - right up there with the Dean Dome and Cameron Indoor.

All Apologies

2008-12-18T17:27:00.001-05:00

As the craziness of exams come to a close, we here at Mirror Sports can finally get back to doing what we do best: covering Fairfield basketball. Not much as changed since we last left you on Sunday afternoon - but we'll have no shortage of updates over the winter recess.

In addition to Tom's 'Cover it Live' blog from Hartford for the Stags in-state showdown against UConn, I'll be covering the team's road games at Iona and at West Point. It's always cool to take a trip to the Military Academy, a humbling experience to say the least. I'm not sure if the game will be any decent, but the visuals alone and its proximity to my home in northern NJ are worth the trip.

Tom and I are also going to get back to our old routine of MAAC coverage. T.C. will do an occasional 'State of the MAAC', and I'm going to bring back the '2-3 Zone,' our weekly conference rankings.

Plenty of look forward to in the weeks ahead.

__________________________________________________

In the meantime, if you haven't done so already, check out old pal Ben Doody's Trentonian blog. The prodigy has done great stuff this year covering Rider and the occasional Rutgers game. I mean, you can't get more creative than coming up with a MAAC rankings index and coverage of Elise Young on MTV's 'Double Shot of Love'. Great stuff, Ben

Random Fairfield Notes

2008-12-15T19:50:00.003-05:00

A few quick notes during a break from studying for exams.

Anthony 'Peanut' Johnson named Co-MAAC Player of the Week

Johnson and Manhattan's Chris Smith, were named the MAAC Players of the Week after a 2-0 week for Fairfield and a Jaspers win over Princeton in which Smith scored a career-high.

Johnson, a 6-8 forward, averaged 11.5 points per game and 14.5 rebounds in the Stags victories over Fordham and Drexel. Peanut grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds in Fairfield's win over Drexel this past Sunday, also scoring 14 points. Against the Rams last Thursday he scored nine points and ripped down 13 boards.

Smith, brother of the Denver Nuggets' guard J.R. Smith, scored a career-high 35 points in the Jaspers win over Princeton in what could be a breakout game. Coming into the season I expected Smith to be one of the top players in the MAAC. He had a great end to last season and is the go to player for the Jaspers, who are 5-3 overall this season and 1-1 in conference.

Stags earn votes again in Mid-Major Top 25

For the second straight week the Stags earned votes in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll, earning 72 votes, putting them in 27th place. Fairfield is trailing Niagara, who earned 90 votes to place 26th.

-Tom Cleary

Stags hold on to defeat Drexel, win seventh consecutive game

2008-12-15T01:50:00.003-05:00

by Tom Cleary

Bridgeport – It was a familiar story for the Stags on Sunday. A game that comes down to the wire. But this time one thing was different. Fairfield made its free throws.

After poor shooting from the free throw line nearly cost the Stags against Fordham on Thursday and Iona last Sunday, they made 7-of-8 shots from the charity stripe down the stretch to wrap up a 66-60 victory over Drexel (2-3, 0-1 Colonial Athletic Association).

With the win the Stags (8-3, 2-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Association) extended their win streak to seven games, for the third time in head coach Ed Cooley’s three seasons, the first time any coach has accomplished that feat in Fairfield history. Last season Fairfield beat Drexel 60-51 in Philadelphia on Feb. 23 as part of ESPN’s BrackeBuster event. That win also came as part of a seven game win streak for the Stags.

The Stags are now off for finals until their Dec. 26 match up against Connecticut at the XL Center in Hartford. For Cooley and his squad, it is a much-needed break.

"Everybody on the floor looked, not basketball tired, but like 'Coach lets get this game over so we can start studying,' " said Cooley, whose team has played 11 games in a month. "That's what I saw in them, to be honest with you, but it was another good team win."

Junior forward Anthony Johnson led the way for the Stags with a double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing career-high 16 rebounds. Senior point guard Jonathan Han chipped in 12 points and seven assists, while junior forward Greg Nero also had a double-double, scoring 11 and securing 11 rebounds.

"We knew we needed this one," Han said. "We knew we had a long break and a lot of practices coming up and we wanted to keep this streak alive. We started a little slow today, but we picked it up and had help from the bench."

The Stags never trailed in the game and were only tied twice, the last time coming at 6-6 with 15:07 remaining in the first half. Fairfield opened up a 10 point lead in the first half when Han knocked down a three-pointer with just over eight minutes left, but Drexel was able to cut the deficit to six, 32-26, heading into the break.

Johnson nearly had a double-double in the first half, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds.

The Stags had control of the game for most of the second half, never letting the Dragons within four points until the 6:27 mark when Tramayne Hawthorne hit a three-pointer to make it 51-48. But Fairfield opened the lead back up to seven with 3:30 to play in the game and then Drexel cut the lead to one, 61-60, on an Evan Neisler layup with 31.7 seconds left.

Fairfield made 5-of-6 free throws in the next 30 seconds to seal the victory.

“I am very happy with the result,” Cooley said. “The [Puerto Rico tournament] came into effect, we were resilient and didn’t fold. We have played some tough teams, Virginia Tech, Missouri, even Chattanooga.

“We have a veteran group which is fun to coach. I don’t have to get as worried as I had to the past two years.”

Mirror Sports Live GLOG: Fairfield vs. Drexel at Harbor Yard

2008-12-14T15:15:00.002-05:00

The slide continues...

2008-12-11T15:31:00.003-05:00

A season ago, first-year head coach Joe Frager rode senior guard Sabra Wrice and a talented returning roster to a stunning start to the season; the Stags won seven of the team's first eight games and the transition to Frager seemed transparent.

What a difference a year makes.

Last night, the Stags dropped their second consecutive game (and third in the team's last four) to Mount St. Mary's, 66-59. Fairfield's record currently stands at 4-5; through nine games last season, Fairfield held a 6-3 record. Baendu Lowenthal totaled 23 points in the loss. Here's a link to the Connecticut Post's game story from Emmitsburg.

It's still awfully early to draw any judgments, but it is clear that the post-Wrice growing pains are certainly beginning to show.

Rob Sisca and Brandon Davis leaving men's basketball program

2008-12-09T15:06:00.002-05:00

According to a press release sent out by sports information today, junior redshirt forward Rob Sisca and freshman forward Brandon Davis are both leaving the men's basketball program. Neither player has been with the team for the past few games.
Sisca plans to remain at the University to continue his goal of graduating with a degree in communications, while Davis, who has missed the entire season recovering for a knee injury is hoping to transfer to a school closer to his home in South Carolina.
“I appreciate the time and effort that Rob and Brandon put forth during their time with our program,” head coach Ed Cooley said. “As a coach, I always want what is best for my student athletes. If Rob and Brandon feel this is what is right for them, than I fully support them in their decision. I know that both young men will be successful in whatever they choose in the future.”

Both players were expected to contribute this season and it is disappointing to see them leave before their careers really start. According to Cooley earlier this season, Davis has chronic knee problems which have really been a problem for him in practice. He still has a great future if he can get healthy and it will be interesting to see where he will land.

-Tom Cleary

Women's Basketball vs. Iona

2008-12-07T13:20:00.001-05:00

Final from Harbor Yard: 76-56 FU

2008-12-05T20:19:00.011-05:00

YOUR FINAL: Fairfield 76, St. Peter's 56
C.J. Reid makes it a respectable twenty point spread, but the Stags dribble the ball out and end the game.
Traore knocks down a hook shot that somehow found its way over Olander. Turner hits a shot on the other end to answr.
SPC is forced to take another timeout after Farifield presses hard on the in-bound. "Good job!" Cooley yells.
Dunne calls for one last timeout to soak it all in. 74-52 Fairfield
Now Lyndon Jordan drains a twenty-foooter from a step inside the arc, and the Stags' bench erupts again. If somehow we could get "Big Baby" Brandon Davis into the game and score, we'd have the ultimate tri-fecta.
Olander feeds Grzeck a pretty lob pass, and Seanie knocks it in off the glass. Great, great look - and Fairfield extends the lead back to twenty.
O'Sullivan hits a three! Khalil Mumford (another MAAC name of the year possibility) answers on the other end. 70-50.
Jimmy O'Sullivan - Cooley's self-professed "victory cigar" - checks in for Sean Crawford. Light 'em up, Red. 67-47 FU.
Brandon Hall uses the glass and deflects a shot from the post in. SPC has scored an awful lot this half... compared to their 40.7% in the first (2-of-9 from three). 67-43 Stags.
Sean Grzeck nails a three - a sure sign you know it is a good night to be a Stag. 67-41 Fairfield.
Yorel Hawkins gets a great feed from Ryan Olander (seems like I've been typing his name a lot in a short amount of time). Truth be told, though, it was a great job of ball movement all the way down the floor, especially from Evanvoich (who passed up an open three) and Crawford (who drove the lane and dished a pass out to Olander). Fairfield leads, 64-39 with 5:49 to go.
Ryan Olander blocks a Jenkins' offering on a drive. He may still be raw, but his sheer size alone will be enough to get him consistent playing time, and make life a lot easier for Cooley in tight games when fouls become troublesome. The option of going to Olander and Mike Evanovich - two above-average sized forwards - off the bench is exciting.
Evanovich hits the shot, despite dribbling and making a step. We'll let it go, Mike - just don't let that whole dribbling thing happen again. 58-37 Stags.
Han and Herbie pull a give-and-go-and-give that spins Wesley Jenkins in every which way. Fairfield has looked markedly better running the floor and in transition thus far in '08-'09. They'll need to be to compete with the likes of Siena. 56-37 Stags.
Han calls Evanovich's shot before it even hits the basket: "Good look, Mike". Nice pass, too, Mr. Han. The Stags extend the lead to 19.
A nice pair of defensive series for Fairfield brings us to the media timeout --> 51-33 Fairfield.
St. Peter's last names: Bacon, Gooding, Jenkins, Leon, Hall, Reid, Costner, Hill - basically out of central casting for any stereotype basketball movie. All you need is Gene Hackman on the sidelines and you're there.
Ismalia Traore, an early candidate for my favorite name in the MAAC, is called for 'over-the-back' on the other side of the floor. Stags ball up 16.
The crowd gives a Ron Burgundy-esque chant at an official who calls a hold on Warren Edney, who managed a nice move in Fairfield's half-court trap defense. 16 point lead? Are you not entertained?
'Thriller' by Michael Jackson from the FU pep band. Why am I excited? 1) it's a new song for the band, which is a rarity in these parts, and 2) they finally listened to the pages and pages of letters I've sent them begging them to learn an M.J. song. At last...
Media timeout after the two teams exchange turnovers --> 47-31 Stags
After the break, the Stags deploy a pretty full-court press that St. Peter's barely figures out before the violation. Ed Cooley implores the bench to give a polite golf clap in recognition.
Han buries a three-point basket and the tags take a 47-30 lead. You took the words right out of my mouth, Mr. Fitzpatrick
Cooley pulls a little Ralph Kramden on the sidelines as Peanut boots what would've been a wide-open dunk attempt into the stands. Rough night, eh Coach?
Foul on Jordan Costner on a three-and-one fastbreak. Edney to the line to shoot two.
Herbie pulls an Evanovich (just catch-and-shoot) and drains a trey. Nicely done, sir. 42-27 Fairfield.

Halftime at the Harbor: 39-25 FU

2008-12-05T19:38:00.020-05:00

Edney's half court heave? Just a bit outside...
Han adds insult to injury by draining a trey from the far corner after what appeared to be a nice defensive showing from St. Peter's on the other end of the floor.
Speak of the devil, Nero uses his size in the paint and grabs another offensive rebound. He misses the put-back, but draws a whistle and heads to the line to shoot a pair.
A.J. draws a foul underneath. Nice job so far by the Stags of using their size and ensuring high-percentage shots: Peanut is already well on his way to another 20-point game.
SPC Timeout --> 36-20 Fairfield
John Dunne has seen enough after three straight alley-oops. The third was a five-on-one oop from Han to Peanut that he slammed down with authority. I'm no Dean Smith, but I'm pretty sure that it should never, ever be five-on-one in transition in a basketball game.
Stat of the Day: John Dunne's cumulative record in two-plus years as head coach: 12-53
SPC has narrowed the gap to ten. I have to say, I'm impressed they didn't roll over. 28-16 as we speak with a little under four to play in the first.
"Your Fairfield University dance team" does a nice little rendition of 'Womanizer' by Brittney Spears. Why do I mention it? Not that it wasn't good (it was), but that Tom and I will be hearing that song all year long at Harbor Yard. Trust me on this one - they'll never change the song.
Media timeout --> 24-12 Fairfield, 6:08 in the first
And they've hit double-digits. Only took 13+ minutes.
Turner and Herbie Allen in the backcourt. We've heard from multiple people they are trying to run thre offendsde more thruogh Herbie in order to keep Jon Han fresh and more involved in the offense (a.k.a. putting him at two-guard when he's in the lineup). From the looks of it, Cooley finally has that luxury due to far greater depth than he's ever had since he's been on North Benson Road.
On the other side of the floor, Costner tries to draw a charge from Greg Nero, but the Foot Lockers call a block on him. Looks like it probably could have gone either way, but when it rains, it pours.
Jordan Costner hits a three from the corner on a pretty kick-out pass. Progress. Progress.
Khalil Mumford misses a J.J. Redick-distance three. Desperate times in Dunne's dungeon over on the other side of the court. Which makes me wonder, "When does the rebuilding end for St. Pete's?"
St. Peter's airball count - five. Good thing I took the over.
Reedal takes down O'Sullivan in the "Little kids dress up like Stags" competition. A Kodak moment to say the least. Meanwhile, Frank Romano - yes, the Frank Romano - is following up his 'Let's Be Frank: Basketball Manager' with a Stag mascot version. But don't tell him I told you - it's very hush, hush at this point.
Media timeout --> 16-2 Fairfield, 11:50 in the first half
Tom Cleary: "Let's see what happens now (that SPC has scored). The old Fairfield teams under Cooley would've let them back in."
ALLELUIA! The Peacocks score! The Peacocks score! Do you believe in miracles? YES!
SPC Timeout --> 16-0 Fairfield, 13:01
Yorel Hawkins makes moves under the basket off a nice feed in the post from Ryan Olander, who was given the most awkward alley-oop pass I've ever seen. Unless he was Dr. J, that was not happening.
Sean Crawford is called for a reach as Fairfield employs the famous Cooley half-court trap. The crowd gives a, "Oh!" in disdain. Really, Red Sea? Don't get greedy.
Big Mike Evanovich drains a three from the top of the arc. 14-0 Fairfield.
Six minutes without a basket + four shotclock violations + a three-game win streak = Ed Cooley in his glory.
Wesley Jenkins steps out of bounds and gives the ball right back to Fairfield right after the break. On the other end, Nero hits a floater. Nice touch, sir. 11-0 Stags.
After another near SPC turnover, I've made up my mind. I'm calling it now - we are on the verge of history. The Peacocks will not score a basket this half. You watch. Call your friends and save your ticket stubs, folks.
Media timeout --> 9-0 Fairfield; 15:54 to play
A.J. hits a little turnaround jumper, a shot he's really perfected early on this season. On the other end, he whacks a Akeem Gooding offering right next to Tom and I. Good play on offense, better play on defense.
Just as I type that, Wesley Jenkins air balls a wide-open three-pointer. This could be a long night for the
Cooley is imploring his defense to hussle and "Get up!". The hard work shows, as a young Peacocks team runs out of time on the shot clock. John Dunne is starting three sophomores and a junior who did not start last year. Rebuilding year much?
Dapper Cooley watch: a black pin-striped suit, white shirt, and a Fairfield red and white striped tie. I'm a fan. The tie's got that candy cane look to it, so bonus points for the holiday season theme.
Another transition basket, and John Dunne calls a timeout. He's livid - can you blame him?
Han corrals a board and then drains a three on the other end. Ed Cooley was chanting "get going" - which makes you wonder how athletic this version's Stags are compared to previous years. The days of a slow, half-court game for Fairfield may be over.
Warren Edney get a lay-up in transition 1:10 into the game. 2-0 Stags.
Back-to-back turnovers mark the start of the game here. SPC comes out with a half-court trap, b ut Fairfield takes its time and moves up court.
A.J. controls the tip and we're underway.
Pre-game meal notes: a little hot roast beef action with home fries - a definite All-American choice. Not too shabby.

Game 8: St. Peter's at Fairfield

2008-12-05T19:30:00.001-05:00

Hello from the Harbor! Tom Cleary and I live here for Fairfield's first MAAC game of the season - a Friday night matchhup against St. Peter's. The Stags enter the game riding a three game win streak, which includes a road win over Jesuit rival Holy Cross and an Alumni Hall thriller over American, last season's Patriot League champions.

A year or two ago, head coach Ed Cooley admitted these were games that Fairfield probably would have lost.

Whether or not the Stags are a 'great' team yet remains to be seen, but a sign of a team ready for a run at a conference title is that they win the games they are supposed to win. Tonight certainly qualifies as one of those games.

More to come.

Reaction from Coach Frager

2008-12-03T17:12:00.002-05:00

The women's basketball team returned from a two-game road trip. The first game was a 57-51 win over IPFW. The second was a 58-54 loss to Cornell. Both games were on the road.

On how the team played - "The IPFW game was a good game for us. They had played three very good teams, two made the NCAA tournament and one in the WNIT. We had to come from behind, but we came up big in the last five minutes. Anytime you travel that far on the road, you want to win."

On if close games will help the team going forward - "I hope so. It's not helping my health. Cornell was disappointing. They are a good team, they won the Ivy League last year, but we were up 19-10 at one point and that margin could have been even bigger. We missed so many point-blank shots. We did get good production from our post players, but this was one game where we didn't have much balance."

On Cornell shooting 52.4 percent in the second half - "We did a tremendous job in the first half. In the second half, two things happened. First, they made a conscious effort to go inside right away. At times we did a nice job with doubling them, but we didn't it as consistently as we did against Sacred Heart. Also, I think that when you struggle offensively, it wears on you and defense suffers."

On the upcoming conference games - "It would have been nice to go into conference play at 4-2. But success all depends on if you learn from mistakes, we've got to learn from the film and hopefully these games, close and on the road will help us. But we've got St. Peter's at St. Peter's, which is always a tough game. Then we come right back against a good Iona team. We have to be ready."

-Chris Simmons

Fairfield vs. American Live Blog

2008-11-29T19:10:00.001-05:00

Women's Basketball vs. Sacret Heart Live Blog

2008-11-22T12:24:00.002-05:00

Game 4: Fairfield vs. Missouri

2008-11-21T12:15:00.008-05:00

Second-Half Updates:
12:13 - Mizzou hits a basket following a Fairfield turnover and Cooley calls a T.O. He's a little displeased. Cooley has said it time and time again: "I don't even notice baskets; I notice defense and I value stops". Quite frankly, the Stags can't get a stop. Nothing has gone right since Han fed Edney in the post for an easy basket five seconds into this half.

12:16 - Edney draws contact on a nice drive to the basket and still hits the lay-up. When he gets the ball, things happen. [Herbie draws his fourth foul as we speak. A definite danger zone given our relative lack of depth at guard.]

12:17 - Taylor hits two from the charity stripe. 49-36 with 15:47 to play. Media timeout, ladies and gentleman.

12:20 - Evanovich checks in for Herbie Allen - Cooley goes big with the lineup, a rarity in the MAAC. Let's see what becomes of it.

12:24 - Tigers up 17 with under 14 to go. It's getting late early for Fairfield. Just as I say that, though, Nero hits a lay-up (they've gone inside often thus far in the half) and Cooley decides to go back to Herbie to build off the spark.

12:25 - Nero hits a pair to pull it to within 15.

12:28 - Carol and Mizzou answer once again - hence the Cooley loves stops argument. Nero answers on the other end - that's six straight points for him. 58-42 with 12:05 to play in regulation. Ugh, another basket and I can't even get this update it. Carol feeds down low and Missouri adds to the lead. Han hits a three - his first field goal of the game - and this update is getting ridiculous.

12:30 - Missouri 60-45 with a shade under 12 minutes to play. Media timeout, baby.

12:31 - DeMarre Carroll - steal, open court lay-in, and the foul (bad move by Nero). Ouch. That may be the nail in the coffin of the Stags' comeback. 65-45 with a little over 10 to play.

12:33 - Carroll adds another to push it to 22.

Halftime Update: FU/Mizzou

2008-11-21T11:47:00.006-05:00

Just as the Stags had taken a comfortable lead in their second-round matchup against Missouri (Joe DeSantis, color analyst on WVOF, said it was their best "seven minutes of five-on-five I've seen all year"), the Tigers athleticism and talent brings them back into the game.

At one point, Fairfield held a five-point lead with only seven minutes left in the first. At the moment, Missouri has stormed ahead, and leads 40-29 at the half. For Fairfield, Herbie Allen leads the way with (#) points. The Stags went into a drought offensively, and scored a meager one basket in the last six minutes of the half.

In many ways, it was a tale of two halves within a half - the Stags did really look dominant early on.

The turning point seemed to be when Mizzou pushed a full-court press (Herbie played sparingly due to foul trouble, putting pressure on Fairfield's younger guards) and turned into a zone on defense - forcing Fairfield to take threes instead of penetrating inside (which they did early and often in their hot streak to start the game). How Fairfield will adjust at half will be interesting?

Stay tuned.

Stat of the Half: Fairfield was outrebounded 22-15 in the first half. Ouch. And I won't even go into Mizzou's offensive rebound numbers...

Missouri falls to Xavier, will face Stags in second round

2008-11-20T15:53:00.003-05:00

It's a final in the second game in Puerto Rico. Fellow Jesuit University Xavier defeats Missouri of the Big XII 75-71.

The Tigers fell to 2-1 on the season and will face Fairfield in the second round of the tournament tomorrow at 11 a.m.

A few notes on the Tigers:

Forwards Leo Lyons (23 p.p.g, 8 r.p.g) and DeMare Carroll (20 p.p.g, 8.5 r.p.g) lead the Tigers, but both fouled out at the end of their contest with Xavier, which helped contribute to their downfall, as Missouri had the lead when they left.
Missouri's inexperienced backcourt fell apart down the stretch as missed free throws and turnovers crushed the Tigers. They may have more talent than the Stags, but Fairfield definitely has the experience-edge with Jon Han and Herbie Allen, along with Warren Edney.
Missouri crushed Tenn.-Chattanooga 103-75 at Missouri in a similar game to the Fairfield-Memphis game.

-Tom Cleary

Meanwhile in Baltimore ...

2008-11-20T13:41:00.003-05:00

Looking around at what else is happening in the world of college basketball as the Xavier/Missouri game gets underway on ESPNU, I came across an interesting article in today's Baltimore Sun.

Apparently Loyola Md. head coach Jimmy Patsos is already up to his old antics, despite the fact he says he is trying to change. Against Cornell in the Preseason NIT Tournament, Patsos told referee John Gaffney to give his team a "fair shake," going on to say that he had heard that "you [Gaffney] and the Cornell coach are both from Philadelphia."

That resulted in a technical and Patsos moved to the end of the bench, quieting down. But after another quip at Gaffney, he was warned again and Patsos threw up his hands, went into the crowd and sat with Loyola Athletic Director Joe Boylan.

It is always interesting to keep up with what Patsos is doing and it will also be intriguing to see how he handles himself when he comes to Fairfield later this season.

Meanwhile the Stags are down in Puerto Rico trying to recoup after their difficult loss, but I see it as a moment that the Stags can build off of. They are learning how to play together and in tough games, so it can only help in the MAAC. As Cooley said after the Sacred Heart game, they may not be in Puerto Rico to win, although they want to, but instead to learn.

-Tom Cleary

Puerto Rico Game One:

2008-11-20T12:44:00.002-05:00

With 12:36 remaining in the game it looked like Fairfield had a chance to pull off a major upset over Virginia Tech, a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. But after the Hokies knocked down a three-pointer to go up 54-47, the Stags failed to score for the next five minutes.

By then there was 7:11 left in the game and Virginia Tech had expanded its lead to 60-49 and taken control of the game. Fairfield shot poorly from the field and the short turn-around from the Stags Tuesday night game against Sacred Heart clearly had a negative effect on the Stags.

That spelled the end for the Stags as they went on to lose to the Hokies 74-57.

Sophomore forward Warren Edney, who had been one of Fairfield's best players for its first two games, averaging 19 points, was just 3-for-11 from the floor and scored only eight points. Senior guard Jon Han also struggled scoring just five points and turning the ball over multiple times.

The lone bright spot for the Stags was senior guard Herbie Allen who handled the pressure well and finished with 11 points, with four assists, but all 11 points came in the first half. Junior forwards Greg Nero (team-high 13 points, six rebounds) and Anthony Johnson (10 points, five rebounds) were also solid.

The Stags could not shut down the Hokies duo of A.D. Vassalo (24 points) and Jeff Allen (18 points). Meanwhile Fairfield's top two scorers combined for just 14 points.

As a team Fairfield shot 35.7 percent from the floor and were 7-for-26 from three.

With the loss Fairfield drops to 1-2 on the season heading into its second game in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament, which will be played against either Missouri or Xavier, depending on the outcome of the next game in San Juan.

For a preview of that game and more on the Stags, continue to visit the Mirror Sports Blog.

Game 3: Fairfield vs. Va. Tech

2008-11-20T10:59:00.016-05:00

Fairfield (1-1)
G #3 Jonathan Han (Sr., 14.5 ppg, 2.5 apg)
G #15 Herbie Allen (Sr., 4.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg))
C #32 Anthony Johnson (Jr., 9.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg)
F #4 Yorel Hawkins (So., 2.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg)
F #41 Mike Evanovich (Jr., 1.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg)
Coach - Ed Cooley, 3rd season

Virginia Tech (2-0)
G #5 Dorenzo Hudson (So., 2.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg)
G #23 Malcolm Delaney (So., 16.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg )
C #34 Cheick Diakite (Sr., 3.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg)
F #40 A.D. Vassallo (Sr., 17.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg)
F #0 Jeff Allen (So., 16.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg)

Live from the Coliseo de Puerto Rico! O.K., maybe Tom Cleary and I are only here in 27-degree Fairfield, Conn. watching the game on ESPNU in the Mirror Office, but the Stags are looking to make their mark over in a U.S. territory
Warren Edney and Greg Nero to the bench? Must be something beyond the surface. Which leads me to...
Mike Evanovich gets the start alongside Nero and Anthony Johnson at forward, marking his first start of the season. I'd think that its a match-up decision. As does Yorel Hawkins. Interesting decisions on both accounts
The Hokies bring a 2-0 record to San Juan. Va. Tech won both of its games thus far this season (Gardner-Webb, 65-62, and Mount St. Mary’s, 62-57). Both mid-majors, both close games. Is there hope? Stay tuned.

11:07 - 12-7 Hokies. Back-and-forth play so far. Evanovich hit an early three, looks like that move plays dividends. Allen drew an offensive foul and seems in rhythm early on.

11:08 - Peanut Johnson nails an awkward dunk. No style points, but we'll take it. Dapper Cooley watch: no shirt and tie. Just a plain old Fairifeld polo. When in San Juan...

11:09 - First media timeout of the game, as the Hokies hold a 14-7 lead. As far as I'm concerned, the longer the Stags are in this, the better. (Side note: That's two commercials for O'Reilly's Auto Parts in nine minutes. Nine. I wonder what the over/under is on that for the game. Hopefully it's not on TBS/Frank TV level).

11:11 - This game is brought to you by "Puerto Rico". Talk about marketing strategies.

11:12 - Nine possessions, four turnovers. Edney and Nero check in.

11:14 - Two free throws from Nero, who draws the lovely "Tyler Hansborough" label from the ESNPU color commentator. I'm a Duke fan, so, while not a fan of the comparison, can see that that's a compliment.

11:16 - Another possession, another Fairifeld turnover, as Anthony Johnson walks in the post. Cooley said if they can keep the turnovers under 15, they have a chance to win regardless of the opponent. They've already got five.

11:18 - Nero buries a three - which is a big, big shot for Fairfield to stop the bleeding. 19-11 Hokies. They also get a much needed stop on the other end. (Is that a Rob Sisca sighting early on?)

11:22 - Obila takes advantage of a rookie mistake on a defensive slide by Ryan Olander. He tallies an extra from the free throw line to push the lead to 21-11. A put back in transition makes it 23-11 Tech. Oh, boy.

11:24 - First Nero/Hansborough, and now the Warren Edney and Chris Paul connection is mentioned. Gotta love the Fairfield-ACC connections.

11:25 - Way too many threes early on. "I don't know if that's Cooley or a gameplan or if they're just a little nervous. But we can't win like that," says Tom Cleary. And I couldn't agree more. (Herbie looks great - another basket for him. Seems like the Memphis hangover is officially dead at this point).

11:27 - Jeff Allen slams a dunk; Ed Cooley is livid. If Fairfield is to win this game (or any game in the Tip-Off for that matter), they can't allow easy baskets in transition or off slides in the paint like that. That, coupled with far too many three-point shots on offense, is why Va. Tech is up 28-15 right now (8:08 to go in the first half).

11:33 - Well over 15 minutes into the gaem, nd Edney and Han still have yet to score. Not a good sign. Over on the other end of the court, the Stags have shifted to a hybrid 2-3 zone to try to stop Virginia Tech's slashing style. Let's see if it pays dividends.

11:36 - TGFH (Thank God for Herbie), as Allen hits another three. But, once again, the Hokies answer on a three by Terrell Bell on the other end on a kick-out pass. 35-21 with 4:51 remaining in the first.

11:38 - Greenberg takes a T.O. Cooley is none happy in that huddle.

11:44 - Allen three. Han three. Allen creative lay-up. Just like that, the Stags are back in the thick of it here. The key though is to see if they can build off of it and get a stop or two in a row in that 2-3 zone. Stay tuned.

11:47 - You're score from San Juan at half: Va. Tech 40, Fairfield 31. Tom Cleary will chime in with some thoughts in a few.

Game Two: Sacred Heart @ Fairfield

2008-11-18T19:17:00.001-05:00

Game 2: Sacred Heart @ Fairfield

2008-11-18T17:16:00.005-05:00

Sacred Heart (0-1)

G #10 Steve Zazuri (Fr., 0.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg)

G #25 Shane Gibson (Fr., 9.0 ppg, 3.0apg)

C #21 Ryan Howard (Sr., 9.0 ppg, 5.0rpg)

F #4 Corey Hassan (Jr., 10.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg)

F #24 Joey Henley (Gr., 18.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg)

Head Coach - Dave Bike, 31st season

Fairfield (0-1)

G #3 Jon Han (Sr., 18.0 ppg, 7.0 apg)

G #15 Herbie Allen (Sr., 0.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg)

C #32 Anthony Johnson (Jr., 7.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg)

F #44 Greg Nero (Jr., 10.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg)

F #22 Warren Edney (Soph., 24.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg)

Head Coach - Ed Cooley, 3rd season

Notes:

Tonight marks the second ever meeting between the two Fairfield, Conn. teams. Last season, the Stags defeated the Pioneers, 84-75. Guard Jon Han finished with a team-high 22 points and eight assists.
Fairfield had three scorers in double-digits on Saturday night against Memphis (Warren Edney - 27, John Han - 18, and Greg Nero - 10). The Stags were the first team since Kansas in last year's NCAA Championship game to shoot over .500 from the field against the Tigers. Only three teams did it last season (UAB, Austin Peay, and Southern Mississippi).
Ed Cooley to our own Tom Cleary this afternoon in the Barone Campus Center: "Saturday (against Memphis) was the best I've seen a Fairfield team play since I've been here."

Tonight the first of many test for Fairfield

2008-11-18T14:44:00.002-05:00

As the Stags prepare to face the Pioneers tonight at the Arena at Harbor Yard, there is a buzz in the air, writes Chris Elsberry. The excitement on campus is palpable.

But, for a second, look deeper than this game. Consider that Cooley and company, despite what in many respects was an admirable loss against Memphis last Saturday evening, are clear-cut favorites in this game, a position Fairfield does not normally find itself in too frequently. A win is just a job well done; a loss could be catastrophic.

[ click here to continue...]

"This is our town"

2008-11-18T13:54:00.003-05:00

We're still a few hours away from tip-off, but the folks over across town sent a loud and clear message again this year via YouTube: "Let the trash talking begin".

Check back later tonight for live game blog coverage of the game. This is one you won't want to miss.

Next Stop: Storrs

2008-11-17T18:41:00.002-05:00

Just announced on the ESPNews Selection show: the Fairfield men's soccer team will play Connecticut in the upcoming first-round of the NCAA tournament. The game and date, while yet to be determined, will likely be at some point this coming Friday, Nov. 21.

Stay tuned for more updates and reactions from senior Tom Clements and head coach Carl Rees.

Women's Basketball vs. Villanova

2008-11-17T18:30:00.001-05:00

Women's Soccer First Round NCAA Tournament

2008-11-14T18:03:00.001-05:00

Shall we dance?

2008-11-10T00:45:00.001-05:00

Ahna Johnson and her fellow seniors have now come full circle, as the women's soccer team clinched its first MAAC championship and berth in the NCAA tournament since 2005, Johnson's freshman year. Chris Simmons has the story.

Johnson, the MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, tallied three goals in a 3-0 shut-out of top-seeded Loyola. She was named to the All-MAAC tourney team, and deservedly so. Another great outing for Kelly Boudreau, who looks poised beyond her years.

Up next: TBD. We'll find out Monday night at 7:30pm when the NCAA hosts the Selection Show. It's airing live on ESPNews if anyone gets that. If not, keep tabs on the blog - we'll have instant news and updates.

Volleyball clinches MAAC Title

2008-11-08T18:34:00.002-05:00

Congrats to first-year coach Alija Pittenger and Co. A 3-0 beat down of Marist today at Alumni Hall clinched another regular-season championship for the women's vollleyball team. Junior Katie Mann led the way with a match-high 16 kills, as she inches closer to 1000 for her collegiate career.

Ironically, Siena comes to town tomorrow, providing a subtle reminder that a regular-season championship only goes so far.

But if this season is any indication, Fairfield's MAAC title losing streak is likely to end.