Men's Lacrosse Hosts Holy Cross In Home Opener Saturday

Bobcats Play Host to Holy Cross in 2011 Home Opener
The Quinnipiac University men's lacrosse team plays its home opener Saturday, when it welcomes Holy Cross to the Quinnipiac Field Hockey & Lacrosse Turf Field. The Bobcats are coming off a pair of tough road losses, at nationally-ranked No. 20 Brown, as well as intrastate foe Fairfield. Holy Cross has also lost its first two games, home tilts against St. John's and Hartford. Holy Cross defeated the Bobcats, 17-10, last April 17 in Worcester, Mass.

Scouting the Holy Cross Crusaders
Matt Boylan's three goals and three assists give him a team-high six points, while John Hannan's five points have all come on his team-best five goals. A.J. Guarente has had a tough go of it at the face-off x, winning just 13-of-37 opportunities. Mike Fisher and Kenny O'Connor have split time in net. Fisher made 13 saves against Hartford, good for a .520 save percentage, while O'Connor was abused by St. John's for 16 goals while making just four saves.

20/20
Christian Haggerty became just the fourth player in Quinnipiac history to compile a 20-goal, 20-assist season with 20 goals and 25 assists last year. Haggerty joined Joe Baglio (49 G, 29 A in 2001) as the only other Quinnipiac player with a 20-20 season at Division I, while Brian Perry (33 G, 25 A in 1998) and P.J. Gillard (24 G, 21 A in 1995) achieved the feat at the Division II level.

Oppenheimer Climbs Quinnipiac Career Goals List
Jack Oppenheimer's 59 career goals are good for 13th in Quinnipiac history.

Causing Havoc
The Bobcats finished the 2010 season ranked fifth in the nation in caused turnovers per game, averaging 10.21.

Crazy Eight
Quinnipiac finished 2010 eighth in the nation in ground balls per game (35.57).

New To The NEC
With Bryant becoming eligible for postseason play in 2011, the Northeast Conference now has six men's lacrosse-playing institutions and has officially become a men's lacrosse league. QU joins Bryant, Mount St. Mary's, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart and Wagner in comprising the six-team league.

Glad To Have You
Christian Haggerty led the Bobcats in points (45), with 20 goals and 25 assists in 2010. His assist total tied for second on the QU single-season list, tied with Brian Perry in 1998. Haggerty was the first Bobcat to reach as many as 17 assists in a season since both Joe Baglio (29) and Jeff Speed (24) did so in 2001.

Oppenheimer Goals: The Right Way To Score
With 32 goals last season, Jack Oppenheimer led the Bobcats and moved into 10th all-time on the Quinnipiac single-season chart. Oppenheimer's 71 career goals rank 13th all-time at Quinnipiac.

Benz, But Don't Break
Senior goalie Kevin Benzing was his typical steady self in net for the Bobcats in 2010, maintaining an 8.69 goals-against average and a .552 save percentage while posting a 7-6 record.

15 Seniors Depart
The Bobcats must find a way to replace 15 graduated seniors from a year ago, many coming in the midfield. The top scorer to depart is Alex Marotto, who contributed 15 goals, while Todd Kaiser also chipped in with 12 goals. Garett Kerr also had 10 goals. Face-off specialist Ben Mullaney will certainly missed, while Alex DeAlmeida's 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) will also have to be replaced.

Up Next
The Bobcats return to action Saturday, March 12, when they travel to Providence. Opening face-off from the Friar Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex is scheduled for 2 p.m.