HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 10, 2009) – Junior captain Bobby Steinhauser won 18 of the 26 face-offs he took, sophomore goalkeeper Dave Decker made 17 saves, and senior attackman J.R. Oreskovich had five points as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team won the ECAC Metro/South title with a 15-9 win over Drew University on Sunday at the De Baun Athletic Complex in Hoboken, N.J. The Ducks scored the game's first seven goals and were never threatened en route to their 12th win of the season.
Stevens dominated the contest from the start, ending with a 54-38 advantage in shots and a 41-33 edge in ground balls. The Ducks won 18-of-27 face-offs and converted 12-of-14 clears.
The MVP finished the contest with 18 face-offs won, three caused turnovers, and a season-high 12 ground balls. He also recorded an assist.
Stevens scored the first seven goals of the game as Drew did not get on the board until there was just 3:01 left in the second quarter. Freshman Alex Hofrichter started the scoring thanks to a nice feed from senior Alex Heckman 4:23 into the game. Heckman put the Ducks on top 2-0 4:12 later after a pass from senior Eric Smith as senior Matt Keating and Hofrichter scored the final two Stevens goals of the first quarter.
Sophomore Chris Laurita made it 5-0 Stevens 3:11 into the second, and Smith and Hofrichter tallied 10 seconds apart to give the Ducks a 7-0 lead with 9:56 left in the first half. Senior Sean McNulty (Oakdale, N.J.) got Drew on the board as the two teams eventually went into the break with the score 8-2 in favor of Stevens.
Oreskovich scored the first two goals of the second half to really put the game away. Drew did not quit, scoring seven of the game's final 12 goals to make the final respectable.
In addition to his four second-half goals, Oreskovich added an assist and four ground balls. The Stevens senior graduates as the all-time leader in points in the 125-year history of Stevens men's lacrosse. Keating, also playing in his last game as a Duck, had two goals and two assists. Hofrichter ended his great freshman season with three goals and an assist, and junior Alex Couture had two goals and an assist. Smith finished with four points on a goal and three assists, and Heckman had a goal to go along with his two assists.
Sophomore Zach McHugh caused three turnovers and picked up five ground balls and sophomore Ted Pfeifer caused two turnovers and picked up three ground balls. Sophomore Jake Messimer had five ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Mcnulty and sophomore Tyler Morse (Middletown, N.Y.) each had two goals in the loss for Drew as senior Michael Celentano (Bedminster, Md.) made 15 saves in goal.
Stevens ends the season with a record of 12-6 and its second ECAC Metro/South Championship in three years.
