Raise your hand if you remember the spring of 1972. Richard Nixon was president of the United States, Atari had just released the first generation of video games with PONG, the Volkswagen Beetle was the hip car to have on campus and a gallon of gas was 36 cents.

Against that backdrop, and in response to student requests, Fairfield University in Connecticut launched its men’s lacrosse club program. There were 18 guys who initially signed up.

“We were a pretty ragtag outfit,” said Roger Yergeau, a junior that year who was one of the founding members. He served as the club’s vice president in 1972 before becoming the president in his senior year.

This Saturday, Fairfield has a full day of activities planned to help mark the 50th anniversary of the men’s lacrosse program, which eventually moved from club to varsity status in 1993. Saturday’s activities include a lacrosse skills clinic, a catered tailgate prior to the game against league-rival Towson and a post-game reception.

“We’re pretty proud of what it has become,” said Yergeau, who will return to campus this weekend from his home in Fort Myers, Florida.

Back in 1972, the club members utilized all their contacts to get the team up and running.

Telephone calls to other schools helped to secure opponents and assemble a schedule. A local steel company made the goals for the team, and another local company produced the team jerseys. Brine provided starter kits that included sticks, helmets and pads.

“I think three-quarters of the guys had never played before,” Yergeau said. “For most of us, the first game we played was also the first game we ever saw.”

Will Mraz, a football player who was friends with some of the lacrosse guys, got recruited one day while eating in the cafeteria.

“‘Hey Willie, do you want to play?’ is how I got started,” said Mraz, who then scored the team’s first goal in the first game, against Southern Connecticut.

A local newspaper article about the start-up team also yielded some needed help.

“This guy who was taking graduate courses at nearby Bridgeport College just showed up at practice one day after reading about our team,” Yergeau said. “His name was Ken Gilstein and he had played at Cornell. Holy mackerel, all of a sudden, we had a coach.”

“Ken really taught me a lot,” Mraz said.

From those early beginnings, the club grew and eventually established itself as being quite competitive. In 1987, Fairfield finished with an undefeated 11-0 record and won the New England Club Championship.

In 1993, Fairfield elevated men’s lacrosse to NCAA Division I status, with Tom McClelland at the helm as the first head coach and Mraz at his side as an assistant coach. The Stags recorded their first varsity victory in their first game, winning 11-6 at home over Saint Joseph's.

“I was there to see all the work that the club guys had done come to fruition,” said Mraz, who was also part of the varsity team’s first winning season in 1996.

Ted Spencer succeeded McClelland as head coach in 1996 as Fairfield became a founding member of an eight-team Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) lacrosse league. Under Spencer’s guidance, the Stags went undefeated in the first year of MAAC play, followed by three consecutive league titles (1996, 1997 and 1998) and two ECAC tournament championships (1998 and 1999).

Spencer piloted the program for 13 seasons and led Fairfield to NCAA tournament appearances in 2002 and 2005.

Yergeau and Mraz were both in attendance in 2005 when Fairfield played traditional power Maryland for the first time. The significance of that game was not lost on the two founding club members.

“The realization of what we started in 1972 hit us both,” Yergeau said. “Holy smokes, we’re playing Maryland.”

The Stags joined the Colonial Athletic Association in 2015 and have twice won the league’s regular season title. Fairfield brings a 7-5 record into Saturday’s game against Towson and remains in contention for the No. 1 seed for the CAA tournament.

“It’s been pretty fulfilling to see where the program has gone,” Mraz said. “Who would have thought it, way back in 1972? It’s pretty special.”