Fairfield

The last time the Loyola men's basketball team met Fairfield, a bid to the NCAA tournament was at stake. The Greyhounds staggered to the finish line - and promise land - after the lowest-scoring Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament final in history. In another grind-it-out win Friday night, Loyola trailed for most of the game but climbed back and took control early in overtime to beat the Stags, 63-58, before a sellout crowd of 2,100 at Reitz Arena and a national television audience (ESPNU)

Sources have told Inside Lacrosse that Fairfield associate head coach Kevin Conry is set to replace newly named Georgetown head coach Kevin Warne as the Terps' defensive coordinator. Conry was an assistant at Fairfield for five seasons, and spent the past two as associate head coach under Andy Copelan. In 2012, the Stag defense finished 16th in Division I with 9.06 goals against and Fairfield advanced to the ECAC finals before falling to Loyola. At Maryland, Conry inherits a 'D' that finished ninth in DI with 7.94 goals allowed and featured ACC Rookie of the Year Goran Murray and redshirt sophomore goalie Niko Amato, who stopped 54 percent of the shots he saw last season.

With Friday night's 14-7 victory over No. 18 Fairfield in the Eastern College Athletic Conference final, No. 3 Loyola captured its first tournament championship. The realization of that achievement is still sinking in for coach Charley Toomey. “It really hasn't sunk in yet,” Toomey said by phone before boarding a plane at Denver International Airport Saturday morning. “I think just for me as a coach, looking at the kids' expressions on their faces as they were holding that trophy and just running around the field and having dinner and enjoying each other's company last night at Maggiano's here in Denver, that's when it started to really ring true that this is something special.

No. 3 Loyola used a desperation goal with one second left in the first quarter to start a three-goal rally and pull away from No. 18 Fairfield, winning, 14-7, in the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship Friday in Denver. Reid Acton scored from 80 yards out with one second left in the first quarter for a 5-3 Greyhounds lead. Loyola (14-1) scored twice in the opening 2:20 of the second quarter to go up 7-3. The Stags (12-4) added a goal before the break but were held scoreless in the third.

Before Denver's participation in the Eastern College Athletic Conference in 2010, there was Loyola, winner of two consecutive league championships. But the Greyhounds have never won the ECAC tournament, which has been claimed by the Pioneers in 2010 and 2011. So No. 3 Loyola finally has a shot Friday night, meeting No. 18 Fairfield in the tournament final in Denver. It's a rematch of last year's tournament semifinal in which the Stags emerged with a 10-9 decision and a trip to the final.

No. 15 Fairfield's 8-3 loss to No. 20 and Eastern College Athletic Conference rival Ohio State last Saturday meant that the Stags (11-3 overall and 4-2 in the league) finished in third place in the conference, one spot behind the Buckeyes (8-6, 5-1). And that means that the two teams will meet in the semifinal round of the ECAC tournament, which takes place Wednesday night in Denver. The quick turnaround doesn't leave coach Andy Copelan and the rest of Fairfield much time to make any changes in their game plan against Ohio State.

Sam Snow, Fairfield Junior, Bainbridge Island, Wash, midfielder Snow ignited the No. 15 Stags' 9-8 overtime upset of then-No. 10 Denver on Saturday. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound midfielder tied a career best with five goals against the Pioneers. His fourth goal, with 19 seconds left in regulation, knotted the score at 8, and he scored the game-winner 32 seconds into the extra frame. Snow who had three of Fairfield's last four goals and was named Eastern College Athletic Conference's Offensive Player of the Week, leads the Stags in goals (31)

Two weeks ago, Loyola was off to a 9-0 start that included a convincing 13-8 win against Duke in March, but conventional wisdom suggested that the Greyhounds' biggest test loomed when they had to embark on a three-game road trip that included contests against Eastern College Athletic Conference foes in No. 7 Denver, No. 19 Fairfield and Hobart. After rallying back for an 8-6 decision over the Stags on April 7, Loyola defeated the Pioneers, 12-9, this past Saturday. Not only did the Greyhounds (11-0)

In opening the season with nine consecutive victories, No. 8 Loyola had accomplished many things, but had avoided trailing in the fourth quarter. That changed Saturday when No. 19 Fairfield embarked on a five-goal spurt to assume a 6-4 advantage 3:01 into the final period. But the Greyhounds answered eight seconds later with a Davis Butts-to-J.P. Dalton goal off the faceoff, and that kick-started a four-goal run to propel them to their first 10-0 season since 1999. While preferring to avoid falling behind in the final 15 minutes of regulation, coach Charley Toomey appreciated the determination that the players showed against the Stags.

The No. 8 Loyola men's lacrosse team scored the final four goals to rally from a two-goal fourth-quarter deficit, defeating host No. 19 Fairfield, 8-6, on Saturday. The win clinched a spot for the Greyhounds (10-0, 4-0) in the Eastern College Athletic Conference championships, which will be held May2-4 in Denver. The Stags (9-2, 2-1) used a 5-0 run that spanned the last three quarters to go up 6-4. UMBC 11, Vermont 8: Nine Retrievers scored and UMBC (4-5, 2-0 America East)