OWINGS MILLS, Md. (May 3, 2008) – Sophomore attacker Richard Ford (Baltimore, Md.) scored a game-high five goals in leading the 10th-ranked Villa Julie College men's lacrosse team to a 15-12 non-conference win over Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon in Owings Mills, Md. The Ducks were led by sophomore attacker Daniel Prakopcyk, who registered four goals and an assist to go along with three ground balls. Senior attacker John Dolny added three goals and an assist as the Ducks dropped their third game in a row to fall to 8-6 overall.
Senior goalkeeper Corey Vaillancourt made 17 saves in the loss. Sophomore midfielder Bobby Steinhauser picked up four ground balls and won eight face-offs. Senior defender/long-stick midfielder Nick Daniello added six ground balls and three caused turnovers in the loss. Junior midfielder Alex Heckman contributed three assists. Junior midfielder Matt Keating and sophomore attacker James Napolitano had one goal apiece.
Villa Julie (13-4) received three goals from senior attacker Kevin Donnelly (Laurel, Md.). Junior midfielder Nicola Bevacqua (Boonton Township, N.J.) scored twice for the Mustangs, who have won five of their last six games. Junior midfielder Brandon Hastings (Baltimore, Md.) won 12 face-offs. Junior goalie Eric Fleegle (Easton, Md.) made nine stops in net.
Trailing 4-2 late in the first quarter, Stevens tied the game on back-to-back goals by freshman midfielder Ian Burgess and sophomore attacker/midfielder Alex Couture. With the game knotted at 5-all, Villa Julie scored five straight goals as part of a larger 7-1 run to build a 12-6 lead at the end of three quarters. Ford scored the final two goals as the Mustangs opened a six-goal cushion with one period remaining.
In the fourth, Stevens out-scored VJC 6-3 to make things interesting. Trailing 13-7, the Ducks closed to within four goals as freshman midfielder Brandon Faubert and Prakopcyk found the back of the net just over two minutes apart. As he did all day, Ford had the answer as he scored his fourth goal of the contest to stake the Mustangs to a 14-9 lead with 9:39 remaining.
Not to be out-done, Prakopcyk scored two quick ones in the span of 68 seconds to bring Stevens within 14-11 with 7:43 left on the clock. Ford responded with goal number five to reestablish a 15-11 lead with 2:19 to go. Prakopcyk, who tallied the Ducks' final four goals of the game, beat Fleegle with 73 second to play to round out the scoring.
Overall, Villa Julie had the advantage in shots (50-33), ground balls (37-27), and face-offs (19-for-28). The Mustangs were 16-for-17 (94.1 percent) in clearing attempts. Stevens converted 83.3 percent (15-for-18) of its clears. VJC capitalized on 2-of-7 extra-man opportunities. The Ducks were 0-for-4 in man-up situations.
Stevens will now await word of a possible bid to the ECAC Division III Metro Championship. Last year, the Ducks won their first-ever ECAC Metro title by defeating Kean University and Montclair State University. This year's tournament field should be announced on Monday afternoon.
