MEN'S LACROSSE NOTEBOOK
The University of Vermont men's lacrosse team looks to start the season 3-0 for the second straight year with a road game against the Fairfield University Stags.
 
The game is scheduled to begin on Saturday (Feb. 10) at 12 p.m. at Rafferty Stadium. It will be the third straight team Vermont has faced that is making its season debut. 

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SCOUTING FAIRFIELD
The Stags finished the 2017 season with a 5-9 overall record and 2-3 mark in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Fairfield was chosen to finish fifth out of six schools in the conference this season.
 
Fairfield split a pair of games against America East teams last season, defeating UMass Lowell 8-7 in late February before falling 9-6 to the nationally-ranked Stony Brook Sea Wolves. FU takes on Hartford and Stony Brook in addition to Vermont in 2018.
 
The top five scorers from a season ago return for the 2018 campaign, headlined by 2017 Second Team All-CAA selection Colin Burke. He tallied 26 goals and 15 assists for a team-leading 41 points in 2017 and was named to the 2018 Preseason All-CAA team for the second straight year. Dylan Beckwith looks to build on his All-Rookie team campaign from 2017 where he scored 16 goals and totaled 29 points. Additionally, 2017 Second Team All-CAA selection Joe Rodrigues returns in 2018 after tallying 17 goals a season ago.
 
All three faceoff specialists from a season ago return in 2018 for Fairfield. Joe DeLasho went 74-for-149, Will Fox went 85-for-159, and Liam Lynch went 1-for-5 last season. As a team, Fairfield won just over 51% of its faceoffs.
 
Senior Tyler Behring played the majority of minutes between the pipes last season for the Stags and Fairfield does not have a goalkeeper on the roster who saw action a season ago. Junior Sam Gindhard, sophomore Sean McKee, freshman Peter Ahonen, and freshman Max McGuire will vie for the starting job in 2018.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
It is the sixth meeting between the Catamounts and Stags in history and first since 2012. UVM is 2-3 all time against Fairfield and looks to even the all-time series. Vermont's last win came in 2008, a 9-8 home victory.
 
The Stags have won all three meetings since Vermont's last win, taking home victories in 2009 and 2011 before a 2012 win over UVM in Burlington. The first meeting came in 1983, where UVM made the trip to Fairfield and returned to Vermont with a 22-4 victory.
 
FURMAN RECAP
Vermont opened the season with a 12-6 victory over the Furman Paladins last Thursday (Feb. 1) in Greenville, South Carolina. After allowing a Paladin goal just 10 seconds into the game, the Catamounts clamped down defensively and scored three straight and eight of the next nine goals to take an 8-2 halftime lead.
 
Freshman Liam Limoges scored three goals and added an assist in his collegiate debut and senior Ian MacKay scored four goals and added an assist in his first game in Green and Gold in nearly two years.
 
Nick Washuta made six saves for the Catamounts in the 12-6 victory. It is the second straight year Vermont defeated Furman to open the season.
 
MERCER RECAP
On Saturday (Feb. 3), the Catamounts were in Macon, Georgia to face the Mercer Bears. After allowing an early goal to fall behind 1-0, UVM scored four straight to take a 4-1 lead at halftime.
 
Vermont outscored the Bears 7-2 in the second half which included five straight from Vermont in the fourth quarter to end the game. Limoges, Rob Hudson, and Liam Rischmann added a pair of goals each. MacKay got on the scoresheet with 55 seconds left in the game to push his point streak to 47 games. Washuta made nine saves in his second victory of the season.
 
2018 AMERICA EAST PRESEASON POLL
Vermont received 22 points and one first place vote and was slotted to finish third in the 2018 America East Preseason Poll. Each of the seven head coaches predicted the order of finish for the 2018 America East regular season standings, with Albany receiving 36 points and six first place votes to win the poll for the sixth consecutive year.
 
Stony Brook finished with 27 points to finish between Albany and Vermont in second. UMBC, Hartford, Binghamton, and UMass Lowell round out the poll, in that order. Albany is third in the nation per the USILA Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
It is the second straight year that Vermont has been chosen to finish third and the first year that Vermont has received a first place vote.
 
21 NEWCOMERS
A total of 21 freshmen have joined the Catamount program this year. Connecticut is the most represented state with five Cats, followed by Pennsylvania with four representatives.
 
Split by position, there are three attackmen, seven midfielders, three defensemen, three long stick middies, two face-off specialists, and a pair of attack/mid combo players.
 
SENIORS CAPTAIN THE CATAMOUNTS
Both James Leary and Ian MacKay return in 2018 to captain the Catamounts for the second straight year. A Seabrook, New Hampshire and Governor's Academy product, Leary has anchored the defense since arriving in 2014, playing in all 46 games and making 44 starts. He has led or nearly led the team in both ground balls and caused turnovers in each of his three seasons.
 
MACKAY LOOKS TO PICK UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF
Ian MacKay returns for the 2018 season after sitting out all of last year due to injury. The 2016 America East Offensive Player of the Year and USILA All-American Third Team selection, MacKay hopes to pick up where he left off at the end of 2016, when the Catamounts nearly knocked off Hartford for the America East title.
 
MacKay has recorded at least one point in every game of his career and carries a 46-game point streak into the game against Furman. With a season remaining, MacKay ranks sixth in the Catamount record book in both points (171) and goals (111), and he is eighth in assists (60).
 
ALL-ROOKIE RETURNER
Ben French returns for his sophomore season after becoming the fifth Catamount since 2013 to be named to the America East All-Rookie team. He played in all 13 games last season, making 12 starts, and finished with a team-leading 25 goals and was second with 36 points.
 
NEXT UP
UVM hits the road again for a non-conference game against Patriot League foe Holy Cross on Saturday, Feb. 17. The game against the Crusaders is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in Worcester, Massachusetts.