Rafferty Stadium is a 3,500-seat

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

stadium on the campus of

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2023, the university had about 5,000 full-time undergraduate students and 1,200 gra ...

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a New England town, town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Connecticut, Trumbull, Easton, Connecticut, Easton, Weston, Connecticut, W ...

. It is home to the

Fairfield Stags The Fairfield Stags are the athletic programs representing Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. Most of the programs are members of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and classified as Division I (non-football) in the Nat ...

men's and women's lacrosse teams. The facility opened officially on February 2, 2015. The stadium is named in recognition of the principal leadership gift from university alumnus Larry Rafferty. The field of the stadium in named Conway Field in acknowledgment of a gift from

Tim Conway Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway (December 15, 1933 – May 14, 2019) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. Conway is perhaps best known as a regular cast member (1975–1978) on the TV comedy ''The Carol Burnett Show'' where he port ...

, another alumnus.

Facility overview

Rafferty Stadium features a

Daktronics Daktronics, Inc. is an American company based in Brookings, South Dakota, that designs, manufactures, sells, and services video displays, scoreboards, digital billboards, dynamic message signs, sound systems, and related products. It was found ...

HD video board and state-of-the-art sound and lights. Conway Field is a

FieldTurf FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett. FieldTurf is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its primary manufacturing facility i ...

playing surface. The stadium also includes a terrace level with a fully enclosed press box that features a media suite, two VIP suites and a production suite to support the video capabilities of the scoreboard, television broadcasts and web streaming. On the ground level are two team rooms, food, beverage and apparel concessions, restrooms, a box office and entry plaza. The Rafferty Stadium President's Suite is home to an original painting by renowned American sports artist

Stephen Holland Stephen Roy Holland, OAM (born 31 May 1958) is an Australian former freestyle swimmer of the 1970s who won a bronze medal in the 1500 m freestyle at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. In a brief and spectacular career, he broke 12 world ...

Notable events

* On March 21, 2015, Fairfield University President

Jeffrey P. von Arx Jeffrey may refer to: * Jeffrey (name), including a list of people with the name *Jeffrey's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada *Jeffrey City, Wyoming, United States *Jeffrey Street, Sydney, Australia *Jeffreys Bay, Western Cape, South Africa Art ...

S.J. officially dedicated and blessed Rafferty Stadium and Conway Field while the women's lacrosse team defeated the Manhattan Jaspers and the men's lacrosse team defeated the then nationally ranked Villanova Wildcats. * In April 2015, the

Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

(CAA) played its 2015 Men's Lacrosse Championship at Rafferty Stadium after the

won the CAA regular season title during its inaugural season in the league. * In September 2024,

installed a new

scoreboard.

Professional Lacrosse

* In August 2016, three former Stags competed in the first-ever professional sporting event at Rafferty Stadium. Men's lacrosse standouts Greg Downing ‘07, Mike Bocklet ‘07 and former Stag Matt Bocklet of the

Denver Outlaws The Denver Outlaws are a professional field lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, that competes in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). Founded as the Chrome Lacrosse Club, they began play as one of the league's six inaugural teams in the ...

defeated the

New York Lizards The New York Lizards, originally the Long Island Lizards, were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) team based in Hempstead, New York, located on Long Island. They are original members of the MLL. They lost the league's inaugural game on June 7, 2001 to ...

, 20–17, in a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) Semi-final game. * In January 2020, the newly formerd

Connecticut Hammerheads The Connecticut Hammerheads were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Fairfield, Connecticut. The team played for one season during the 2020 season. The team's home field was Rafferty Stadium located on t ...

of the MLL announced that Rafferty Stadium would be their home venue. * The

Premier Lacrosse League The Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is a professional field lacrosse league in the United States. The league comprises eight teams. Its inaugural season debuted on June 1, 2019, and included a 14-week tour-based schedule taking place in 12 major- ...

is slated to host week 7 of its 2022 season at Rafferty Stadium on July 23-24, 2022. * The PLL announced their return to Raffery Stadium for week 5 of its 2023 season on July 14-15, 2023.

References

External links

*
Rafferty Stadium Groundbreaking
Fairfield Stags lacrosse Connecticut Hammerheads Fairfield Stags sports venues College lacrosse venues in the United States Major League Lacrosse venues Premier Lacrosse League venues Lacrosse venues in Connecticut 2014 establishments in Connecticut Sports venues completed in 2014 {{Connecticut-stadium-stub