HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 9, 2020) – Under the leadership of current Director of Athletics Russell Rogers, who just completed his 20th year in the position, the Stevens Institute of Technology Department of Athletics has risen to unprecedented levels of success.
Under Rogers' leadership, Stevens has finished inside the top 45 in the DIII College Directors' Cup standings 11 consecutive years including a program-best 13th-place finish in both 2010-11 and 2015-16. The Ducks also won the Jostens Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Institution of the Year Award in both 2007-08 and 2012-13, while also finishing as the Collegiate Athletic Administrators of New Jersey DIII Cup Winner in seven of the last 10 years.
The Department of Athletics will look back into the archives to reflect on the development's evolution under Rogers. Each week, key moments will be highlighted that happened "This Week in Stevens History."
The week of November 9-15
Nov. 9, 2019 – Women's Soccer and Women's Volleyball Win MAC Freedom Tournament Titles on the Same Day
Exactly one year ago, the Stevens women's soccer and women's volleyball teams each won their first MAC Freedom title in year one in the conference, with both wins coming in front of home crowds in Hoboken. Women's soccer topped Misericordia 2-0 in the Championship match while the volleyball program defeated Eastern 3-1.
Gabby Saade and Ally Wanzor both found the back of the net in the second half to lift the Ducks to victory while Izzy DiDario made a then-career-high seven saves to post her 12th shutout of the season and was a part of a string of six consecutive shutouts for the Ducks. Saade was named the tournament MVP thanks to her game-winner in the championship.
A while later in the day, the women's volleyball team defeated Eastern 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-18) to win its second conference tournament title in three seasons. Shelby Stewart registerd 12 kills, eight total blocks, seven service aces and hit .414 over the two tournament contests to be named the tournament MVP. The win was the 11th in what was eventually a 13-match win streak for the Ducks as Stevens used the momentum to advance to the NCAA Regional Final for the first time since 2016.
Nov. 9, 2011 – Field Hockey Scores with 17 Seconds Left to Top Wesley 3-2 in ECAC Quarters
Tied at 2-2 with less than a minute remaining in the ECAC Quarterfinals, Mary Nikish put a shot past the goalie to give the Stevens field hockey team a thrilling 3-2 win over Wesley College in front of the home fans in Hoboken.
Trailing 1-0 in the second half, the Ducks got goals from Marguerite Chaves and Rachel Chavez within 70 seconds of each other to take a 2-1 advantage. The Wolverines answered with a goal of their own later in the half and the two teams played to a stalemate for nearly the entirety of the rest of the half.
With 27 seconds remaining, however, Stevens caused a turnover and made the most of its final possession when Chavez dribbled into the left side of the circle and dropped a pass off to Nikish who knocked in the game-winner with 17 seconds on the clock.
Nov. 10, 2013 – Nieradka Becomes Fourth Women's Fencer in Program History to Eclipse 200 Career Wins
With nearly the entirety of her senior campaign ahead of her, women's fencer Briana Nieradka became the fourth student-athlete in program history to surpass the 200-win plateau at the Vassar Invitational. She went 18-5 overall on the day and helped the Ducks go 5-3 as a team with wins over Wellesley, Vassar, Yeshiva, Lafayette and CCNY.
Nieradka would go on to win 65 more bouts in her senior season and finish with 265 career victories which currently sits as the third-most career wins of anyone in program history across all weapons. Her 265 career wins sits atop of the leaderboard among epee fencers and she is one of just six fencers in program history to be named the EWFC Fencer of the Year multiple times.
Nov. 11, 2006 – Women's Volleyball Tops Washington & Lee to Win Regional Final for First Time in Program History
In front of a home crowd inside Canavan Arena, the women's volleyball team clinched its first-ever NCAA Division III New York Region Title with a 3-1 (30-26, 40-38, 22-30, 30-22) victory over Washington and Lee. The win was the 34th of the season which is the second-most single-season wins in program history only behind the 2007 season when the Ducks finished 36-5 and also advanced all the way to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Dawn Herring had a big day for Stevens in the victory as she finished with 19 kills and 12 digs while Melissa Rhode hit .314 with 15 kills while adding 18 digs and five blocks.
In the thrilling back-and-forth second set, Stevens fought off four-consecutive set-points and trailed 38-37 before rattling off three straight points thanks to a kill from Melanie Volk as well as a double block by Rhode and Ashley Hurt. After dropping the third set, the Ducks responded immediately with a decisive 30-22 win in set four to clinch the match.
Nov. 11, 2012 – Field Hockey Wins First-Ever ECAC Mid-Atlantic Title
One year removed from the thrilling last-minute win in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Tournament, the field hockey program decided to one-up that performance by winning its first-ever ECAC Mid-Atlantic Title with a convincing 3-0 victory over FDU-Florham.
Megan Traub keyed a dominant Ducks defense that posted two shutouts in the tournament to be named the Most Outstanding Player while Dailyn Brook, Grace Ridge and Chelsea Cresci were the goal-scorers for Stevens. The Ducks ended the year with 72 goals which was the program record until Stevens notched 76 goals in 2013.
Nov. 12, 2016 – Regan Wins Second Straight NCAA Atlantic Regional Title
Amy Regan had perhaps the best performance of her cross country career in the NCAA Atlantic Regional in her senior campaign as she ran a personal-best time of 20:05.1 in the 6K to win her second consecutive regional title.
Regan took the lead just past the 2K mark and did not look back as she held the lead for the final 3.7K of the race and won the race by nearly 20 seconds. Regan's victory helped the Ducks finish in fifth place overall as a team as Stevens had two of the top-five finishers in the race with Mary Visca taking home a fifth-place finish.
Nov. 12, 2014 – Wrestling Topples No. 15 TCNJ in Home Opener
For the second consecutive year, the wrestling program topped its ranked rivals from down the road as Stevens defeated No. 15 TCNJ 30-10 in its home opener in 2014. The victory was the first home win of now-head coach Joe Favia's illustrious career on Castle Point.
The Ducks picked up seven of the 10 wins on the day, including a pair of fall victories from Frederick Perrine (149 lbs.) and AJ Kowal (184 lbs.) as well as major decisions from Rob Murray (125 lbs.) Ryan Wilson (141 lbs.) and Chris Florek (HWT). In addition, Zach Wilhelm (157 lbs.) and Zach Bass (174 lbs.) won by decision to clinch a decisive home victory for the Ducks one year after Stevens went on the road and topped then-No. 8 TCNJ.
Nov. 13, 2018 – Men's Basketball Rallies from Behind to Stun No. 16 NJCU
Trailing by 17 points in the second half, the Stevens men's basketball team roared from behind thanks to a 20-point second half effort from eventual All-American Spencer Cook to defeat No. 16 NJCU at home in front of a packed crowd at Canavan Arena.
With 10:39 remaining in the contest, Stevens trailed 59-43 with the outcome looking bleak. The Ducks responded in a big way, however, going on a 15-0 run fueled by seven points from Cook and five more from Michael Zignorski to cut the deficit to one. Alec DiPietrantonio gave Stevens the lead for good with a tip-in with :43 seconds remaining and the Ducks held on for the win.
Stevens snapped NJCU's six-game winning streak in the series and got their first win in the series since 1934 and got their first win over a ranked opponent since February 21, 2015 when Stevens toppled then-No. 16 St. John Fisher.
Nov. 13, 2002 – Women's Soccer Tops Johns Hopkins 1-0 in First-Ever NCAA Tournament Contest
Eventual-Hall of Famer Valarie Barnhart came up big in what was the women's soccer program's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament with a goal in the 56th minute to lift the Ducks to a thrilling 1-0 win over Johns Hopkins University at home.
Not only was it the first NCAA Tournament victory for the women's soccer team, it was also the first NCAA win for any Stevens program in a team sport.
Following a scoreless first half, Stevens scored the only goal of the game at the 55:27 mark when Barnhart gathered in a corner kcik from Becky Gonter and beat the Johns Hopkins goalkeeper with a line drive into the lower left corner from 15 yards out for her school-record 23rd goal of the season.
Nov. 15, 2003 – Men's Soccer Wins First NCAA Tournament Match 3-1 over Muhlenberg
The start of a string of four consecutive Sweet 16 appearances for the men's soccer program began in 2003 when the Ducks earned their first-ever NCAA Tournament victory 3-1 over Muhlenberg.
After falling behind 1-0 less than nine minutes into the contest, Chris McGreevy tied the match at one apiece with a strike in the 42nd minute. After the break, Chris Barsky and Brian Marks found the back of the net in the second half for Stevens to avenge the Ducks only previous loss of the season. The win was the 18th straight for Stevens in the season which remains a program record.
The games/events noted above are not meant to be a complete listing of Stevens' events on these dates, but a sampling of great moments as determined by the Stevens Department of Athletic Communications.
"This Week from the Pond" Archives:
Sept. 14-20
Sept. 21-27
Sept. 28-Oct. 4
Oct. 5-11
Oct. 12-18
Oct. 19-25
Oct. 26-Nov. 1
Nov. 2-8
Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks
#AllRise
