Leads ECAC in Assist and Stags to 10-3 Record
Colin McLinden is a proud native of Madison, New Jersey, so his affinity for the Jersey Shore during the Summer time is superseded only by his abilities as junior playmaker on the Fairfield University men’s lacrosse team, where he leads the ECAC in assists with 26, and has the Stags positioned as number 15 in the nation. Call him a “shore” thing on the lacrosse field.
McLinden scored two goals and added another two assists to his dossier on Tuesday, moving into third all-time at Fairfield in career assists (64), as Fairfield routed Quinnipac in a 15-10 victory, improving the Stags to a 10-3 overall mark.
The Stags (10-3; 2-1 ECAC) close out the regular season on Saturday, April 26 when it hosts Ohio State atFairfield’s Lessing Field at 1:00 pm.
McLinden doesn’t mind scoring goals either, like his pair yesterday. “I rank the two about even, but I do love setting my teammates,” he says. “The important thing is scoring. No matter who scores, even if I don’t get an assist or score, we are all pumped and huddle together.”
Colin has played lacrosse since he was a little tyke, so he is experienced beyond his years. “I got my first stick when I was 3 years old. My big brother was a big influence on me ever since I was 5 years old. He played at Virginia and won a national championship and I always wanted to follow in his footsteps. “
Lacrosse is not the only sport McLinden follows. He keeps his eye on college football, too, so much so that he says: “I would love to have dinner with Johnny Manziel. I believe he is one of the best college football players ever. He will be the first pick in the NFL Draft. He knows when to work hard, when he can have fun, when he has to put his head in a book. I think it would be interesting and I would want to sit down and have dinner with him. LeBron James would have been a second choice.”
By the way, Colin admits that he is deathly afraid of spiders. But fortunately the eight-legged critters are not tending the opponents’ nets otherwise McLinden might be running in the other direction.
McLinden Quotables
On how he has become such a great set up manI played with some great players my freshman year. (Brent) Adams and (Sam) Snow paved the path for me. I would play off them.
Now I play with some big time shooters. Eric Warden and TJ Neubauer are big shooters.
Also helps that coach switched me from middle to attack. I can see the field more, see more cuts and where to pass the ball. Coach gives me the freedom to play on the field, trusts me to make the right play.
His aspirations for this seasonOur goal from the beginning of the season was to win the ECAC Tournament.
We have a very hungry team, our confidence is sky high. We have been very close the last couple of years. We lost in the final of the tournament my freshman year and we lost in the first round last year so we want to go all the way this year.
We need to stay focused. We know that if we are given the chance, we can make a run and play against any team. We have beaten a top ten team in the last couple of years. We have played well against great teams like Denver when they were number 1. We were very close to beating UNC last year. If given the chance, we can play against anyone.
