Alex Richards scored four goals as Stevens opened the 2006 season with a 10-9 loss at RIT. |
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (February 25, 2006) – Senior David Thering (Fairport, N.Y.) scored a pair of goals in span of 1:23 midway through the fourth quarter to break an 8-8 tie as Rochester Institute of Technology went on to claim a 10-9 victory over Stevens Institute of Technology in a season-opening match-up between Top 15 teams on Saturday at the RIT Turf Field in Rochester, N.Y. The Ducks entered the game ranked No. 8 in the nation while the Tigers were listed at No. 15 according to Lacrosse magazine’s preseason poll.
Rochester (1-0) got on the board first when Thering fed sophomore Andrew Ruocco (Corning, N.Y.) for a goal with 8:03 to play in the opening quarter. Stevens (0-1) responded as sophomore attack John Dolny (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) tied the game with his first goal of the season. RIT scored three straight man-up goals to take a 4-1 lead. Junior midfielder Alex Richards (Beaverton, Ore.) answered right back with an even-strength goal for Stevens.
Leading 6-2 at halftime, the Tigers extended their lead to five goals as junior Eric Pritchard (Webster, N.Y.) connected with 2:06 gone in the third quarter. The Ducks rallied once again with a five-goal outburst to tie the score.
Freshman attack Eric Smith (Oswego, N.Y.) began the comeback when he took a feed from senior midfielder Stephen Pascone (Selkirk, N.Y.) and found the back of the net. Richards tallied his second score of the game just 37 seconds after Smith’s goal. Less than two minutes later, junior midfielder Mark Bielicky (Bridgewater, N.J.) scored to bring the Ducks within two at 7-5. Richards added two more goals in a four-minute span as Stevens knotted the game at 7-all.
RIT reclaimed the lead as junior Scott Farress (Webster, N.Y.) scored a man-up goal. Junior midfielder Joe Van Sickle (Amherst, N.H.) tallied an even-strength goal early in the fourth quarter as Stevens pulled even at 8-all. Just over three minutes after Van Sickle tied the game, Thering scored to put the Tigers in front 9-8. He added his third goal of the game just over a minute later as RIT went up by two.
Bielicky pulled the Ducks to within 10-9 as he tallied an unassisted goal with 6:08 remaining. Tigers’ junior goalkeeper John Foley (Guelph, Ontario) made the lead stand up as he came up with two excellent point-blank saves in the final five minutes. First, Foley stopped Bielicky from the left crease. Foley, who made 16 stops while picking up the win, also made a big save on Dolny from the right side to preserve the lead.
Stevens was led by Richards, who finished with four goals. Bielicky added a pair of goals for the Ducks. Dolny finished with a goal and an assist for three points. Smith had a goal and an assist as well. Junior defenseman Phil Jonat (Bridgewater, N.J.) posted a team-high eight ground balls. Junior midfielder Matt Althauser (Bellevue, Wash.) and sophomore defender Nick Daniello (Cross River, N.Y.) finished with six ground balls apiece. Junior goalkeeper Jack Dunderdale (Ridgefield, Conn.) made 14 saves in net.
Thering finished with three goals and two assists for RIT. Pritchard added two goals and two assists. Farress had two goals
Stevens was done in by its inability to stop the Tigers in extra-man opportunities. RIT was 5-for-7 in man-ups during the game. The Ducks did not score during their lone opportunity with an extra player.
Stevens will be back in action on Saturday, March 4 when the Ducks host Montclair State University at DeBaun Field at noon.
