Final Stats

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Wildcats started with a 2-0 lead but was held scoreless for 40:43 as the Fairfield Stags (5-4) registered an 11-4 win over Villanova on Saturday night in Fairfield, Conn. It marked the final non-conference game for Villanova this season as they enter the league portion of their schedule next weekend vs. Marquette.

With the loss, Villanova falls to 5-3 overall as they suffered their second consecutive setback in as many games. Fairfield improves to 5-4 overall and moves to 3-4 in the all-time series between the two schools.

The Wildcats outshot their opponent by a 40-28 margin and won 11-of-18 attempts at the faceoff X but couldn't piece together the victory.

Villanova began the game on the right foot and registered two quick scores at the 11:04 and 8:43 marks in the opening stanza by Eric Gartner and Danny Seibel to take a 2-0 lead early in the game.

Despite the fast start, Fairfield went on to score eight unanswered scores to bridge the first and third quarters and took an 8-2 lead heading into the final period. Balanced scoring by Charlie Schnider, Drew Federico, Tristan Sperry, Jake Knostman and TJ Neubauer closed the half at 6-2 in favor of the hosts.

Coming out of intermission, the Wildcats continued to struggle despite getting good looks at goal. Fairfield went on a 3-0 run in the third quarter to increase their lead to 8-2 heading into the fourth quarter.

Junior Jack Curran broke Villanova's scoring drought with 13 minutes remaining in the contest off an assist from Sean Cerrone to close the gap at 8-3, but the Stags responded with Neubauer's score less than six minutes later to make it 9-3.

Kurtis Naslonski found an open Charlie Horning in the closing minutes for the final Villanova score of the day to make it 9-4 with 6:25 on the clock. Fairfield closed the contest with two more goals to make it an 11-4 final.

Villanova was led defensively by John Moderski's seven ground balls while goalkeepers Greg Stamatov and Dan Willis combined for 11 saves. Fairfield's Tyler Behring tallied 16 saves in the win.

Villanova will be back a week from today when they host Marquette on Saturday, March 28th. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. at Villanova Stadium and will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network.