Brian Lalli celebrates his goal with 3:24 left in the second quarter.

HOBOKEN, N.J. – Senior midfielder Brian Lalli (Cranbury, N.J./Princeton) had two goals and one assist and senior goalkeeper Matt Cannon (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) stopped 16 shots to lead Stevens Institute of Technology to an 8-4 win over Springfield College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship on Sunday at DeBaun Field.

The victory was the first for Stevens in four NCAA Tournament appearances.  Stevens, which has won 11 straight games, improves to 13-2.  The Ducks will face Middlebury College in the quarterfinals on Wednesday at 3 p.m.  Middlebury, the second seed in the 17-team field, earned a 14-5 win over Geneseo.  Springfield, ranked ninth in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III poll, had its 12-game winning streak snapped and finished the season at 13-4. 

Springfield twice held one-goal leads in the first quarter.  Senior midfielder Craig Gibson scored the initial goal just 1:08 into the game and sophomore attack Taylor Brown added a goal with 9:36 left in the opening quarter to give the Pride a 2-1 lead.

Stevens scored the next six goals as Cannon and the Ducks held Springfield scoreless for a span of 32 minutes.  Sophomore midfielder Jay Wells (North Bennington, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) tied the game at 2-2 on an unassisted goal with 4:17 left in the first quarter.  Senior attack Matt Kuppe (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley) gave the Ducks the lead, scoring his second goal of the game with 12:47 left in the second quarter.  Lalli’s goal with 3:24 left in the period put Stevens up 4-2 at halftime.

The Ducks pulled away in the third quarter, scoring three goals in a span of 2:48.  Lalli fed sophomore attack Rich Benson (Rehoboth Beach, Del./Cape Henlopen) for a goal at the 10:38 mark.  Senior midfielder Erik Reckdenwald (Glen Aubrey, N.Y./Whitney Point) and freshman attack Mark Bielicky (Martinsville, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) followed with goals as Stevens increased its lead to 7-2.

Springfield got no closer than four goals the rest of the way.  Junior midfielder Derek Pedrick ended the Pride’s offensive drought with an unassisted goal at the 7:02 mark of the third quarter.  Senior attack Paul Purdy added a goal with six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Stevens held a 56-35 advantage in shots.  The Ducks also played their first penalty-free game of the season.  Cannon improved to 13-0 in net for Stevens this season.  He stopped four shots in each quarter.  Freshman Kyle Cloutier made 15 saves for Springfield.

STEVENS 8, SPRINGFIELD 4

SCORING SUMMARY:

    Prd  Time Team     Type Goal Scorer           Assists

--------------------------------------------------------------

1.  1st 13:52 SC       EVEN GIBSON, Craig         BROWN, Taylor

2.  1st 13:06 SIT      EVEN KUPPE, Matt           Unassisted

3.  1st  9:36 SC       EVEN BROWN, Taylor         PURDY, Paul

4.  1st  4:17 SIT      EVEN WELLS, Jay            Unassisted

5.  2nd 12:47 SIT      EVEN KUPPE, Matt           Unassisted

6.  2nd  3:24 SIT      EVEN LALLI, Brian          RECKDENWALD, Erik

7.  3rd 10:38 SIT      EVEN BENSON, Rich          LALLI, Brian

8.  3rd  9:37 SIT      EVEN RECKDENWALD, Erik     BIELICKY, Mark

9.  3rd  7:50 SIT      EVEN BIELICKY, Mark        Unassisted

10. 3rd  7:02 SC       EVEN PEDRICK, Derek        Unassisted

11. 3rd  0:52 SIT      EVEN LALLI, Brian          Unassisted

12. 4th  0:06 SC       EVEN PURDY, Paul           COST, Adam

Springfield SCORING: GOALS: BROWN, Taylor 1; PURDY, Paul 1; GIBSON, 

Craig 1; PEDRICK, Derek 1.

ASSISTS: BROWN, Taylor 1; COST, Adam 1; PURDY, Paul 1.

Stevens SCORING: GOALS: LALLI, Brian 2; KUPPE, Matt 2; BIELICKY,

Mark 1; RECKDENWALD, Erik 1; WELLS, Jay 1; BENSON, Rich 1.

ASSISTS: BIELICKY, Mark 1; LALLI, Brian 1; RECKDENWALD, Erik 1.