HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 9, 2009) – Senior Eric Smith and sophomore Chris Laurita combined for eight goals as the 20th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team claimed a 14-9 win over 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Kean University (2-2) on Monday evening at the De Baun Athletic Complex in Hoboken, N.J. Smith finished with four goals and three ground balls as the Ducks bounced back from Sunday's 8-7 loss at Springfield College to even their record at 2-2 on the year. Laurita also scored four times to raise his team-leading total to 12 tallies on the year.
Senior Matt Keating added two goals and two assists in the win. Sophomore Joey Simone chipped in with four points on a goal and three assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Dave Decker earned his second win of the year and only had to make two saves.
Stevens jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 8:36 of the game. Following two straight scores by the Cougars, the Ducks tallied four unanswered goals to build a 6-2 lead and were able to extend the lead to 9-3 before the break after back-to-back goals by Keating and Laurita.
Kean outscored the Ducks 4-2 in the third quarter to make it a four-goal game going into the final 15 minutes, but Smith scored his fourth to push the lead back to five with 10:48 left. Kean's C.J. Gannon (Morris Plains, N.J.) was able to find net to make it a 12-8 game, but Stevens scored two-straight to seal the win. Simone put in a shot after a feed from senior attackman J.R. Oreskovich and Laurita scored on a nice look from Simone.
Gannon, a senior midfielder, had a huge game for the Cougars, scoring five goals on just seven shots.
Extra-man opportunities helped Kean as they scored four times in these instances while the Ducks scored once on just two man-up chances.
Stevens limited turnovers, only committing 12 and dominated the ground-ball battle, 39-20. The Ducks also only allowed the Cougars to be successful on five of their 16 clear attempts and took 43 shots compared to 22 for Kean.
Stevens made the most of its chances in the fourth quarter, finding the back of the net on three of its four shots. Face-offs were essentially 50-50 as the Ducks won 14-of-27.
Sophomore midfielder Brandon Faubert had a team-high six groundballs as defender Ted Pfeifer had four ground balls and a team-high three caused turnovers. Oreskovich had two assists and a goal for three points and freshman Vincent Crisco had five ground balls.
Stevens will now head to southern Florida to play Kenyon College on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The Ducks will then return home to play No. 11 Endicott College on March 18. The Endicott game will be a Duck Country event and all fans that attend are encouraged to wear yellow to the 7 p.m. start at the De Baun Athletic Complex.
