Matt Keating posted three goals and an assist as Stevens rolled past Maritime, 26-6.

HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 1, 2006) – Freshman attack Eric Smith (Oswego, N.Y.) scored three goals in the opening 12 minutes of the game as the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s lacrosse team built an early 9-0 lead en route to a 26-6 win over Maritime College on Saturday in Throggs Neck, N.Y.  The Ducks earned their third straight victory as they improved to 6-2 (4-0 Knickerbocker Conference) on the year.

Junior midfielder Mark Bielicky (Bridgewater, N.J.) opened the scoring with an unassisted goal just 58 seconds into the contest.  Sophomore attack John Dolny (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) tallied his first goal of the game 21 seconds later as the Ducks extended their lead to 2-0.  Freshman midfielder Matt Keating (Chatham, N.J.) connected on back-to-back goals in the span of 6:27 to push the margin to 4-0 with less than seven minutes remaining in the quarter.

Following a goal by sophomore attack R.J. Ancona (West Islip, N.Y.), Smith scored three times in less than two minutes to fuel the Ducks’ offensive explosion.  Sophomore attack J.R. Oreskovich (La Costa, Calif.) also scored during that stretch as Stevens went up by nine goals at the end of the first quarter.

Maritime picked up the intensity in the early portion of the second stanza as the Privateers scored five times in the span of 3:39 to close to within 10-5 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the half.  Freshman attack Keith Fricke (White Plains, N.Y.) tallied three of the five goals in the run for Maritime.

Stevens responded with eight straight goals as the Ducks grabbed an 18-5 lead at intermission.  Oreskovich found the back of the net three times in the final nine minutes of the period.  Dolny added a pair of goals and an assist as Stevens blew the game wide open.

The Ducks continued to pull away in the third quarter as they out-scored the Privateers 8-0.  Maritime senior midfielder Sean Kennedy (Huntington, N.Y.) halted a string of 16 unanswered goals by Stevens when he scored with 5:13 remaining in the game.

For the Ducks, 14 different players registered points in the contest.  Oreskovich led the way with five goals and four assists for nine points.  Dolny finished with four goals and an assist.  Freshman attack Andrew Richards (Beaverton, Ore.) tallied four goals while Bielicky added three goals and an assist.

Smith (two assists) and Keating (one assist) had three goals apiece.  Sophomore attack/midfielder Frank Sorrentino (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.) posted four assists for the Ducks.

Senior midfielder Evan Swiker (Philadelphia, Pa.) collected nine ground balls and was 9-for-10 in faceoff opportunities.  Ancona also had nine ground balls and won 18 of 26 faceoffs.  Junior goalkeeper Jack Dunderdale (Ridgefield, Conn.) ran his record to 5-2 on the season as he made nine saves in 26 minutes of action.

Fricke was the only multi-goal scorer for the Privateers as he finished with three goals.  Kennedy had a goal and an assist for two points.  Junior goalkeeper Tim O’Hara (Syracuse, N.Y.) allowed all 26 goals and made 15 saves for Maritime.

Stevens owned a 59-22 advantage in shots in the game.  The Ducks also corralled 59 ground balls to just 38 by the Privateers.  In faceoffs, Stevens won 27 of 36 opportunities.

The Ducks will return to action on Wednesday when they take on The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey at 7 p.m. in Pomona.