HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 5, 2018)  – No. 14 Stevens Institute of Technology Men's Lacrosse scored nine unanswered goals to build a 9-1 halftime lead and then held on to defeat St. John Fisher College 13-9 to win the 2018 Empire 8 Conference Championship Saturday evening at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Senior John Boutureira netted a game-high five goals and was named the championship's Most Valuable Player. The Eastchester, New York native, who recorded the 100th point of his career in Stevens' non-conference win over Montclair State, added an assist to match a season-high with six points. The midfielder had three goals and an assist in Stevens' semifinal victory over Hartwick to total 10 points in the championship tournament. The high-scoring senior has scored a career-best 40 goals in his final season of collegiate eligibility, 

Freshman Ryan Gebhardt added two goals for the Ducks to continue his ascent up the program's single-season goal-scoring list. The Baldwinsville, New York native has 51 goals in his inaugural season on Castle Point and is tied for sixth place with Mark Bielicky, who tallied 51 goals in 2005. Joe DiPompeo is the program's single-season record holder with 61, set back in 1997.

"What a great win for our guys," said head coach Gene Peluso. "We really did a great job holding on and hats off to St. John Fisher for their play in the second half."

Sophomore Brendan Monteleone had two goals and an assist for Stevens, who played in its third straight Empire 8 Championship. The Ducks will be making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2013. Junior Eric Radbourne scored twice and Max Bailey added a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who won their eighth consecutive game to improve to 17-2. Stevens moved to 9-5 all-time against St. John Fisher, including a 2-1 record in the postseason.

"I'm very happy for our program, the administration, our families, our players and our staff," Peluso offered.

Junior Ryan Kelly registered his first goal of the season and junior Daniel Crotty tallied his first assist of the year on a wild sequence to end the first half to round out the Stevens scoring. With time winding down in the second quarter, Crotty fired the ball nearly the length of the field, where Bailey picked it up and quickly fired a shot past Justin Townsend to give the Ducks a 9-1 lead. Crotty famously scored a goal from a similar distance last season against nationally-ranked Ithaca.

T.J. VanDeusen and Jack Mulvihill each had two goals for St. John Fisher, who saw its five-game winning streak come to an end. St. John Fisher finishes the season 12-6.

Junior Carson White made 11 saves to earn the victory for Stevens. Townsend had eight stops for Fisher in defeat.

The Ducks edged the Cardinals 37-34 and had a 21-20 edge in shots on goal. Stevens went 13-of-17 in clears, while St. John Fisher was successful on 12 of its 14 attempts. St. John Fisher held a 27-22 edge in ground balls. Stevens largely kept Joe Post in check in the faceoff 'X', holding the freshman to a 12-13 mark. Post was ranked 11th in the country with a .690 winning percentage. Sophomore Nicholas Carnovale went 12-11 in the 'X' for the Ducks with senior Scott Wedgeworth picking up the other Stevens win. Post led all players with seven ground balls. Gebhardt, Crotty and Carnovale each had four to lead Stevens.

"We got great games from Boots and Dallas Creamer," Peluso said. "Dallas led us all day on defense."

For the second straight game, the visitor jumped on the board first. Mulvihill temporarily silenced the large crowd with his 11th of the season, just 2:02 into the contest. Gebhardt scored his 50th of the year to even the game at one and begin the game-deciding run. Goals from Radbourne and Kelly followed to give Stevens a 3-1 lead after the first period.

The strong offensive display continued with Boutureira completing his hat trick with three consecutive goals in a seven-minute span to give Stevens a 6-1 advantage. Gebhardt and Boutureira each found the back of the net before Bailey's first-half buzzer-beater seemingly put the game out of reach. The potent Stevens offense produced double figures for the 15th straight game and the 18th time this season.

With its season on the line, St. John Fisher came out and kept the Ducks off the board in the third quarter. The third quarter had been Stevens' best period all season as the Ducks had outscored opponents 84-32 coming into the game. VanDeusen began the run, beating White three minutes in the third to start the comeback. Fisher was credited with an own goal on an errant Stevens pass before VanDeusen again found the back of the net to trim the the margin to five. Mulvihill scored on a man-advantage situation to make it four straight for the guests and Nicholas Miller scored his 40th of the year to close out the quarter. Fisher went 1-for-2 on extra-man opportunities, while Stevens went 0-for-3.

Monteleone scored two of the first three goals to start the final quarter to return a comfortable four-goal margin. Chance Gates and Mitch Rein brought Fisher back to within two, but Radbourne put an end to any comeback attempt with his 31st of the year. Boutureira recorded the final goal of the day as Stevens managed the clock over the final eight minutes to close out the victory before a ecstatic DeBaun crowd.

Up Next: No. 14 Men's Lacrosse will learn of its NCAA placement Sunday evening in the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship Selection Show.

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