ALFRED, N.Y. (March 28, 2009) – Tied at four after the first half, the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team erupted for nine goals in the third quarter to help secure a 13-5 conference victory over Alfred University on Saturday afternoon in Alfred, N.Y. Ten different players tallied goals as senior J.R. Oreskovich, sophomore Brandon Faubert, and junior James Napolitano all notched two goals apiece, and sophomores Zach McHugh and Tom Iadanza led the Stevens (6-3, 2-0 Empire 8 ) defense.
The Saxons (5-2, 0-2 Empire 8) jumped out to a quick lead 52 seconds in, but Faubert knotted the games at one seven seconds later, thanks to an assist from sophomore Jake Messimer. Senior attackman Matt Keating assisted Oreskovich to give Stevens a 2-1 lead with 8:12 left in the first but Alfred's Justin Gill (Gowanda, N.Y.) tied the game 2:26 later.
Freshman Kevin Rose scored a man-up goal early in the second to put Stevens back on top but the Saxons responded with two-straight goals, one at 10:59, another at 10:14 to go up 4-3. After eight minutes of scoreless action, junior attackman Alex Couture was able to knot the game at 4-all with 2:11 to go in the half.
In the third, Stevens came out absolutely on fire. Napolitano scored 29 seconds in to give the Ducks the lead for good, and Faubert quickly made the score 6-4. Freshman Cal Case found the back of the net after a feed from Keating with 10:59 to go in the third and 44 seconds later, freshman Alex Hofrichter tallied an unassisted goal to give Stevens an 8-4 lead. Sophomore Chris Laurita scored thanks to one of three Couture assists just 18 seconds after the Hofrichter goal as the Ducks tallied nine times in the third, five of which came in a span of 4:32.
Napolitano, Oreskovich, Keating, and junior captain Bobby Steinhauser scored the final four Duck goals of the game for the final margin.
The Ducks ended with a 46-32 advantage in shots taken and had a slight edge in ground balls (32-30). Stevens won the face-off battle, 12-8 and converted 23-of-26 of its clear attempts.
Stevens had its best showing of the season on its man-up chances, converting on 66 percent (4-of-6), and once again, the defense was excellent on penalty kills. The Ducks held Alfred to just one goal in eight chances as the game featured 14 penalties.
McHugh had three caused turnovers and two ground balls, and Iadanza caused two turnovers and four ground balls. In addition to his two tallies, Oreskovich added an assist and three ground balls. Keating and Couture each registered four points on three assists and one goal.
Freshman Mike Steinhauser led the Stevens face-off unit, winning six of the nine he took and recording four ground balls.
Sophomore Dave Decker and senior Burke Reynolds combined to allow just five goals for the second time in as many games. Decker made eight saves in 49:16 of game time and Reynolds was credited with three.
Stevens will return to action when it hosts Hartwick College on Wednesday afternoon in Hoboken, N.J. at 3:30 p.m. For those unable to attend, the game will be webcast live at www.Empire8.tv.
