CHESTER, Pa. (March 13, 2019)  – Senior Dean Peluso netted a career-high six goals to lead No. 12/No. 14 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse to a 17-7 victory over Widener University Wednesday evening in a non-conference contest at Elizabeth J. Hirschmann Field at Quick Stadium.

Sophomore Ryan Gebhardt added three goals to record his fifth hat trick of the season and junior Brendan Monteleone had a goal and two assists for the Ducks, who improved to 4-2. The victory snapped Stevens' two-game losing streak as the Ducks claimed their third straight victory over the Pride, dating back to the 2005 season.

"It was great to get a road win today," said head coach Gene Peluso. "I thought our guys traveled well and controlled the pace of the game early. I give a lot of credit to their goalie who had a bunch of saves against us."

Peluso and Gebhardt also collected an assist in the game as 11 different Ducks recorded at least one point. Senior Max Bailey, who set the program's all-time career points record one game ago and broke the program's all-time assists record against Widener one season ago, joined freshman Craig Stockfeder in tallying a goal and an assist. Stockfeder's first-quarter tally was the Melville, New York native's first career goal. 

Freshman Brendan Sullivan added two goals, while senior Nicholas Carnovale recorded his first marker of the season. Sophomores Sean Kunz and Nico Ipeker each scored a goal and sophomores Kyle Vlasich and Ryan Caplis each handed out an assist to round of Stevens' scoring. 

Connor Heisman and John Dunbar each had two goals for Widener, who fell to 0-5.

"Dean Peluso did an excellent job tonight shooting and being aggressive on the offensive end of the field," Peluso added. "It was great to get a lot of our players some playing time and it was great to see some guys make the most of their opportunities. Brendan Sullivan with two goals was big for us, and the play we received from Craig Stockfeder and Sean Kunz was also key.

Senior Carson White made 11 saves to earn the victory. Junior Jack Braswell and sophomore Danny Tierney also saw time in the cage, with Tierney stopping a pair of Widener shots. Carter Landry made 23 saves for the Pride.

"Carson White and Nicholas Carnovale also played well for us," Peluso reflected. "Carson made some big saves and Nick came up with some great face-off wins."

Stevens struck first, scoring on the game's first possession. After Carnovale earned the opening faceoff win, Peluso made a strong individual move to net his ninth goal of the season. The teams  alternated the next series of possessions before Heisman picked up his first goal of the game to even the score with 2:33 in the opening quarter. 

Carnovale was the spark that led to Stevens' second goal on the team's next possession, earning his second faceoff win of the day, before Stockfeder concluded the play by beating Landry for his first of the year. The teams combined for 18 shots in the opening period, but just three goals. 

The second quarter proved to be the game-changing period. The Ducks came out with Bailey beating Landry just 58 seconds into the period to give the guests a two-goal margin. Gebhardt added Stevens' second 'Up' goal of the period two minutes later before Gavin Kirkwood scored on the power play to halt Stevens' offense.

Carnovale netted a crucial goal on the next possession, winning the faceoff and taking the ball into the attacking third and beating Landry to key a sequence where the Ducks reeled off five unanswered goals to take a commanding 9-2 lead heading into the intermission. Peluso scored three goals less over a six-minute stretch, with Ipeker converting a Sullivan feed with 25 seconds remaining in the half to close the sequence. 

The teams alternated goals in the third quarter. Dunbar's first of the year opened second-half scoring before Sullivan had the response marker. Heisman and Gebhardt scored 40 seconds apart and Timmy Certeza and Monteleone scored 52 seconds apart to close the quarter.

Dunbar beat White for the second time to open scoring in the final period, before Stevens scored the next four goals to put the game out of reach. Peluso found the back of the net twice in 44 seconds to complete his six-goal performance and goals from Gebhardt and Sullivan added goals to push the to double figures. Drew Amsley netted his third of the year and Kunz beat the game's final buzzer to round out the scoring.

Peluso's six-goal performance topped his previous career best of four goals (and six points) in a victory over Lycoming on Mar. 16, 2017.

For the game, Stevens outshot Widener 53-36 and held a 40-20 advantage in shots on goal. The Ducks have crossed the 50-shot plateau in four of their six games this season. Gebhardt fired a game-high 11 shots, while Peluso added seven, as 15 different players took at least one attempt. Heisman led Widener with six.

Defensively, Widener's Jason Higgins led all players with three causes turnovers, while junior Bubba Brennan led Stevens with two. For the game, Widener committed 19 turnovers, while Stevens finished one away from matching a season-low with 13. Stevens out-earned Widener in ground balls, 37-26, with Carnovale picking up a game-high six, while Monteleone and Bailey each had four as 17 different players picked up at least one. Sean Gibson led Widener with four.

Stevens went 18-9 in the 'X', with Carnovale earning 12 of the Ducks' 18 wins. Junior Connor Murphy collected the other four wins for the Ducks, while sophomore Jimmy Tovey took a pair of faceoffs for his first career opportunities. Gibson went 7-7 on faceoffs to lead Widener.

Stevens went 15-for-17 on clears, while holding the Pride to 22-of-27. Each team turned six extra-man opportunities into three goals, with Gebhardt scoring twice with the man-advantage, while Bailey converted the other 'Up' goal. 

Up Next: No. 14/No. 12 Men's Lacrosse continues its stretch of games away from campus, returning to Pennsylvania for a non-conference game with Haverford. Stevens is 4-3 all-time against Haverford, including wins in each of the last three meetings. This will be the first meeting between the programs in Haverford since Mar. 26, 1977; the teams were scheduled to play in Haverford two seasons ago, but the game was moved to the campus of St. Joseph's University because of inclement weather.

"Now we prepare for a tough Haverford game as we grind towards our spring break week," Peluso said.

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