David Fleming Named ECAC Rookie of the Year
CENTERVILLE, Mass. – Two Fairfield lacrosse standouts received ECAC year-end honors, it was announced today. Stags senior Jack Murphy (Cohasset, Mass.) was named the ECAC Lacrosse League Goalkeeper of the Year while Dave Fleming (San Carlos, Calif.) was named Rookie of the Year. In total, four Stags were named to the All-ECAC First Team, two were named to the All-ECAC Second Team, and three were named to the ECAC All-Rookie Team.
Ranked number 14 and sharing its first-ever regular season championship (tied with Ohio State and Air Force), Fairfield, 11-3, heads to the ECAC Lacrosse League Tournament tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio.
Murphy also earned All-ECAC First Team accolades and was joined by juniors Colin McLinden (Madison, N.J.) and Tristan Sperry (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) on attack and sophomore TJ Neubauer (Glen Arm, Md.) in the midfield.
Senior midfielder Eric Warden (Glen Mills, Pa.) and senior defender Toby Armour (New Haven, Conn.) earned All-ECAC Second Team honors. Earning All-ECAC Rookie Team honors were Fleming on attack, Jake Knostman (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) in the midfield, and Jay Walsh (Duxbury, Mass.) on defense. Murphy, who was named the ECAC Lacrosse League Defensive Player of the Week six times this season, is just the second Stag to be named Goalkeeper of the Year.
Charlie Cipriano earned the accolade in both 2011 and 2012. Murphy, a team captain, sports an 8.54 goals against average, which ranks him 12th in the nation, and has turned aside 131 shots. He’s also 26th in save percentage (.534) and made 10 or more saves in seven games this season. For his career at Fairfield, Murphy has made 299 saves which is good for fifth all-time. Murphy is also 22nd among the NCAA Division I Career Active Leaders in saves and 18th in saves per game (9.97). Fleming is the first Stag to earn ECAC Rookie of the Year accolades. Fleming, who earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honors four times, has had an impressive rookie campaign. Fleming has scored at least one goal in every game this season for a total of 22. He’s also added seven assists and 19 ground balls. He has six multi-goal games, including hat tricks against Stony Brook and Air Force. McLinden has recorded 28 assists, good for tenth in the nation, in 13 games this season. His 28 assists are not only setting a personal best, but rank as the sixth most in Fairfield single-season history. He’s also added 16 goals this season. For his career, McLinden has 66 assists, good for third all-time at Fairfield. In addition, he is 15th among NCAA Division I Career Active Leaders in assists and 20th in assists per game (1.50) entering the week.
Sperry has posted 39 points in 14 games this season. He has scored 22 goals on 49 shots while notching 17 assists. Sperry has had a pair of five-point games this season. Against Manhattan, he scored twice, with a career-best three assists. Sperry equaled his best with two goals, and three assists, at Holy Cross.
Neubauer is Fairfield’s leading goal scorer this season with 31 tallies. Neubauer has recorded 10 goals in his last three games and has scored at least two goals in nine games. Neubauer, who was named the ECAC Offensive Player of the Week twice, had a career day at Quinnipiac, recording six goals, an assist, seven points, six groundballs, and four caused turnovers. He has 39 ground balls on the season, including a career-best six at Michigan. Warden has posted a career-best 29 goals this season. Seven of Warden’s goals are game-winners while six have come while the Stags were a man-up and he’s recorded seven game-winners. He has nine multi-goal games this season. Warden netted a career-high five goals and assisted on a sixth in Fairfield’s season opener at Delaware and scored the game-winner in overtime against Yale.
Armour earned All-ECAC Second Team accolades for the second straight season. Armour, a team captain, has posted 12 caused turnovers and 16 ground balls in 14 games.
Knostman has been solid in his first year as a Stag with 13 goals, seven assists, and 13 ground balls. Knostman has five two-goal games this season. He’s recorded at least one point in all but two games this season.
Walsh has been solid on defense for the Stags. He’s appeared in all 14 games with 12 ground balls and has caused seven turnovers.
Fairfield (11-3; 3-1 ECAC) earned the top seed in the 2014 ECAC Lacrosse League Championship Tournament after clinching a share of the regular season title. The Stags will face fourth-seeded University of Michigan in the semifinals on Thursday, May 1 at 5pm at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. The game will air live on Fox Sports 2.
