ALFRED, N.Y. (March 25, 2017)  – Junior John Boutureira led all players with a career-high eight goal as the Stevens Institute of Technology Men's Lacrosse team opened Empire 8 Conference play with a 21-9 victory over Alfred University Saturday.

With the victory, Stevens improved to 6-3 overall and 1-0 in E8 play. Alfred fell to 4-3 on the season and 0-1 in conference.

In addition to his eight goals, Boutureira added an assist to finish with nine points. Connor McKeon had three goals and an assist and Tommy Dawson, Max Bailey and Dean Peluso each totaled three points. Brendan Monteleone and Eric Radbourne each added two goals and Kyle Skurchak had two assists. Jan Schoonen, Tim Leahy and Christian Werlau each had one point as 11 different players registered at least one point.

Joe Fornataro led Alfred with four goals and an assist.

Defensively, sophomore Daniel Crotty caused six turnovers and combined with Scott Wedgeworth to pick up 12 ground balls. Wedgeworth also went 14-for-25 on faceoffs as Stevens went 16-for-32 as a team.

The Ducks outshot the Saxons 48-26 and were 16-for-23 on clear attempts. Sophomore goaltender Carson White made five saves in earning the win.

Boutureira's first goal of the game opened the scoring and McKeon's first pushed the Stevens lead to two. Fornataro put Alfred on the board with his first with less than three minutes to play in the opening quarter. Boutureira would reclaim a two-goal lead for the Ducks just before the end of the first stanza.

The Ducks would score three times in the first 5:55 of the second period to open a 6-1 lead. Alfred would score back-to-back goals to trim the Stevens lead to 6-3, but Peluso would beat the Alfred keeper to give the Ducks a 7-3 lead. Boutureira would net back-to-back markers and Peluso would score a goal with the man advantage to close the first-half scoring.

Armed with a 10-3 lead at the intermission, Stevens scored three times over a 90-second period to go up 14-6. Tommy Dawson would score for 47 seconds left in the third period to open a 15-7 lead. Stevens totaled three goals scored in the final minute of a period.

Bookened by a pair of Fornataro goals, Stevens scored six straight goals to provide the game's final margin. Monteleone began the flurry with his 14th of the year, followed by goals from Boutureira, McKeon, Dawson, Radburne and Werlau to reach Stevens' 21-goal total. The offensive output was the high mark of the season for head coach Gene Peluso and the Ducks and marks the highest team total since Stevens scored 24 goals against St. John Fisher on April 16, 2016.

Up next: The Ducks welcome conference rival Ithaca College to De Baun on April 1 for an Empire 8 matchup. The game begins at 1:00 p.m.

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