Leads ECAC in Assists and Stags to share of ECAC Regular Season Title
Colin McLinden has been playing lacrosse since he was a little boy. He remembers, “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.” The native of Madison, New Jersey is now leading the Fairfield Men’s Lacrosse team to the ECAC Conference Championship after obtaining a share of the Regular Season Title.
McLinden strives to help his teammates score. His 2.15 assists per game average has positioned him in the top ten in this category. But he is definitely not a one dimensional player. Colin knows how to score, finding the back of the net 16 times in 13 games this season. When it comes to choosing between the two, Colin says he “ranks the two about even, but I do love setting my teammates.” All in all though, Colin is happy when the team scores. 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.”
In their final regular season game hosting Ohio State, McLinden helped the Stags grab the win by a score of 7-5 with two assists as well finding the back of the net once. These two assists give McLinden a total of 28 on the season, which leads all players in the ECAC, and a total of 44 point.
This victory for the 14 ranked Stags (11-3; 3-1 ECAC) gives them their first ECAC Lacrosse League Regular Season title in program history, as they share the title with Ohio State and Air Force. Fairfield now heads to Columbus, OH for the ECAC Conference Tournament from May 1-3. They will be looking to win the conference tournament after coming up short the last three years, with two losses in the final, and look to solidify their berth to the NCAA Tournament.
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.
