HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 1, 2019)  – Sophomore Nico Ipeker scored a career-high six goals as No. 10/No. 10 Stevens Institute of Technology Men's Lacrosse rallied from a four-goal deficit to defeat Nazareth College 17-12 Wednesday in an Empire 8 Conference semifinal matchup at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Junior Brendan Monteleone added a career-high five goals with two assists and sophomore Ryan Gebhardt finished with three goals and three assists for the Ducks, who won their 13th straight game to improve to 16-2. Stevens evened the all-time series with Nazareth at eight and has won each of the last two meetings. The teams have alternated wins over their four postseason meetings. The Ducks advanced to face St. John Fisher, who defeated Hartwick on the other side of the bracket. It's the third straight season that the Ducks will be playing for a conference championship in the friendly confines of the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Jeremy Jacob had four goals and two assists for the Golden Flyers, who dropped to 7-11. The loss ended Nazareth's three-game winning streak. 

Senior Eric Radbourne scored three times and classmate Max Bailey handed out four assists for the Ducks, who have averaged just under 18 goals per game over their winning streak. Senior Dean Peluso registered one assist to round out Stevens' scoring. Bailey's helper on Gebhardt's dramatic buzzer-beating goal was the 300th point of his illustrious career. The leader in assists among all active Division III players, Bailey is believed to be one of just five active Division III players with 300 or more career points.

Senior Carson White drew the start and made 11 saves in earning his 15th victory of the season. Eric Almquist made nine saves in defeat for Nazareth. Alex Winkler relieved Almquist in the final minutes, but didn't face a shot.

Radbourne and Monteleone became the latest Ducks to reach career milestones. Radbourne's first-quarter tally was his 100th career goal and Monteleone joined the 100-goal club with his second goal of the day. The pair join Bailey, Peluso, White and head coach Gene Peluso in reaching milestones in 2019.

Senior Nicholas Carnovale won the opening faceoff and the Ducks quickly fired three shots, but were unable to find the back of the net. Nazareth successfully cleared the ball after the third miss and White stopped a pair of shots before Jacob picked up a rebound and beat the Downingtown, Pennsylvania native for his 23rd goal of the year.

The Golden Flyers snagged the ensuing faceoff, but White stopped Cory Mason to lead Stevens' counterattack. After a successful clear. Bailey fed Radbourne and the Guelph, Ontario, Canada native wound up and whipped a shot past Almquist for his 32nd goal. Radbourne netted a career-high 36 goals one season ago.

Nazareth collected the next four goals to hand Stevens' its largest deficit at the DeBaun Athletic Complex this season. 

Ipeker began Stevens' comeback in the second quarter, scoring on the man-advantage after a Mason slashing penalty. The sophomore attackman broke through offensively earlier in the season, scoring 10 goals on 10 shots over three games. Monteleone fed Radbourne for his second goal of day to inch the Ducks closer, but Jacob netted his second of the day to push Nazareth's led back to three.

A 30-second interference penalty led to Ipeker's second power-play goal of the day and the Montgomery, New Jersey native completed his fifth hat trick of the year two possessions later. 

Jacob completed his hat trick just 12 seconds after Ipeker, but the Ducks responded with a pair of goals less than 90 seconds apart to finally draw even. 

Matthew Vanliew beat White to reclaim the lead for the guests and freshman Aidan Hinphy was whistled for a slashing penalty to give Nazareth a chance to extend its lead before halftime. However, Stevens was awarded the next possession after a faceoff violation and Monteleone beat Almquist for the second time to again draw the teams even with 10.4 seconds left in the second quarter.

Carnovale won the next faceoff and quickly carried the ball into the attacking third. The Fairfield, New Jersey native fed Bailey, who found Gebhardt in the left slot. The high-scoring sophomore received the pass and beat Almquist with just one-tenth-of-a-second on the clock to give the Ducks their first lead of the game. Gebhardt's three-goal performance pushed his season total to 57, marking a new career high.

Radbourne opened second-half scoring to extend Stevens' scoring run to three, but Jon Parrinello answered for Nazareth to trim the Ducks' lead back to one. However, it was Stevens that had the offensive answer, with Monteleone and Gebhardt scoring consecutive goals to reclaim a comfortable margin. The teams alternated goals to close out the stanza.

Monteleone opened fourth-quarter scoring and Gebhardt completed his 12th hat trick of the season to push the lead to four. Jack Crowley found the back of the net to briefly stir up hope for the visitor's, but Monteleone and Ipeker scored two minutes apart to provide the final margin. 

Stevens outshot Nazareth 43-30, including a 17-7 margin in the second quarter, where the Ducks scored eight times. Monteleone fired a game-high 11 shots and Jacob topped Nazareth with seven. The margin in shots on goal was far closer, with Stevens connecting for 26 shots, against 23 for the Golden Flyers. The first half was a tale of two quarters, with Nazareth tripling Stevens' shots on goal in the opening quarter and the Ducks doubling the Golden Flyers' total in the second.

Sophomore Jason Coyle recorded a game-high three turnovers and classmate Sean Scadden caused two for the Ducks, who turned over Nazareth 18 times. Six different players caused one turnover for Nazareth, who forced 13 Stevens miscues.

Carnovale won eight faceoffs to lead the Ducks, while Tim Vinton won a game-high 12. Junior Connor Murphy added a pair of victories in the 'X' and freshman Matt Logan had his first career faceoff win. Nazareth had a 19-11 edge in faceoff wins and the advantage led to a 42-36 edge for the Golden Flyers in ground balls. Vinton picked up a game-high eight, while Carnovale and sophomore Shawn Coulter each picked up six to pace Stevens.

Stevens was successful on 18 of its 24 clearing attempts, while Nazareth was successful on nine of its 12 attempts.

Stevens was 2 for 6 on extra-man opportunities, with Ipeker accounting for both tallies. Crowley's goal was Nazareth's only power-play goal of the day in four attempts. The teams combined for 12 penalties.

Up Next: No. 10/No. 10 Men's Lacrosse takes on St. John Fisher Saturday afternoon at the DeBaun Athletic Complex for the Empire 8 Conference Championship. It's the second straight season that the Ducks and the Cardinals will battle for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics         
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks
Snapchat: ducks_athletics
#AllRise