HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 15, 2020)  – Junior Shawn Coulter netted his first career hat trick to lead No. 18 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse to a season-opening 9-4 victory over Swarthmore College Saturday in a non-conference game played at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Juniors Ryan Gebhardt and Ryan Caplis joined senior captain Brendan Monteleone in adding two goals each for the Ducks, who won their 14th straight season opener. It was the fifth time in the last seven seasons that Stevens has opened its season in the friendly confines of the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Jake Ross and Austin Chang each totaled a goal and an assist for the Garnet, who saw their four-game winning streak in season openers come to an end. The Ducks have won all four meetings between the teams in the 2000's.

"It was a hard-fought win today against a very well-coached Swarthmore team," said head coach Gene Peluso. "I thought their goalie played excellent and I believe our defense played excellent as well."

Sophomore Michael Burns netted his first goal of the season and junior Nico Ipeker had an assist as the Ducks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second quarter. Caplis assisted on Coulter's final goal of the afternoon to round out Stevens' scoring. Additionally, freshman Jake Wright made his collegiate debut, causing a pair of turnovers and picking up a ground ball in his first game on Castle Point.

Senior Jack Braswell drew the start and matched a career-high with six saves to earn his first victory since May 9, 2018. The Lancaster, Pennsylvania played all 60 minutes for the first time in his career. Frankie Dillon made 20 saves for Swarthmore in defeat.

"We had some shooting woes today, but a lot of that could be credited to the excellent play of their goalie," Peluso offered.

The Ducks jumped on the board early in the first period on Michael Burns' first shot of the season. After Murphy won the opening faceoff, the Charlotte, North Carolina native netted his first goal of the season just 26 seconds into the contest. It was the Ducks' fastest goal in a season-opening game since Marc Malecki scored just seven seconds into Stevens' season-opening win over Endicott on Feb. 26, 2011.

Gebhardt scored his first of the day eight minutes later as the Ducks claimed a 2-0 lead after the opening period. The Baldwinsville, New York native has crossed the 50-goal plateau in each of his first two seasons on Castle Point. The Ducks outshot Swarthmore 14-2 in the first quarter and the Garnet did not register their first shot on goal until the 4:30 mark of the second stanza.

Coulter beat Dillon for his first of the day to open second-quarter scoring and Monteleone found the back of the net five minutes later to give the Ducks a four-goal lead. Swarthmore finally got on the board late in the frame to pull within three at the intermission.

Chang scored just 20 seconds into the third period to pull Swarthmore within two, but Gebhardt and Caplis scored three minutes apart to reclaim the four-goal margin. Ross beat Braswell to give Swarthmore a little lift heading into the final period, but the Ducks scored three of the final four goals of the day to earn the victory. Coulter converted a Caplis feed with 98 seconds left in regulation to complete the hat trick.

"The game we got from Shawn Coulter was super," Peluso offerend. "He really played both ends of the field excellently. We have become accustomed to getting a great defensive game from him over the years, but his offense today was equally as valuable."

Stevens outshot Swarthmore, 44-23, on the afternoon, including a 29-10 margin in shots on goal. Gebhardt fired 16 shots to lead all players, with 11 registering on net. Coulter and Monteleone had six shots each as eight different players took at least one attempt. Chang led Swarthmore with eight attempts, including four on goal.

Defensively, senior captain Bubba Brennan caused a career-high six turnovers as the Ducks forced 16 Swarthmore miscues on the day. Wright joined graduate student Daniel Crotty and junior Jason Coyle in forcing two turnovers each and Monteleone Burns, sophomore Aidan Hinphy and junior Sean Scadden forced one turnover each. Griffin Soriano and Andrew Estalella forced two turnovers apiece to lead the Garnet, who totaled six caused turnovers. 

Crotty paced the team with seven ground balls, while Monteleone scooped up five. Fifteen different players recorded at least one ground ball as the Ducks posted a 35-18 edge in the statistic. Nathaniel Johns and Luke Ingersoll topped Swarthmore with three ground balls each. 

"Our defense played in sync and did a very nice job throughout the game," Peluso shared. "We thought the play we got from Crotty and Hinphy was strong."

Senior Connor Murphy was an outstanding 13 for 15 in the faceoff circle. The West Hartford, Connecticut native matched a career-high for wins in the 'X' and also picked up four ground balls. Joel Paulson had both of the Garnet's faceoff wins.

"The play we received from Connor Murphy at the faceoff 'X' was awesome and he did a really good job of controlling our possession time," Peluso said.

Neither team was able to convert an extra-man opportunity with the Ducks coming up short on their three power-play opportunities, while Swarthmore was empty on their four turns with the man-advantage. 

Nationally-ranked in clearing percentage one season ago, the Ducks were successful on 17 of their 18 clear attempts, while Swarthmore went 23 for 27.

The Ducks' nine goals marked the lowest offensive output in a winning performance since topping then 14th-ranked Stevenson University 7-5 on April 25, 2017.

Up Next: No. 18 Men's Lacrosse travels down the Pennsylvania Turnpike for a non-conference tilt with No. 19 Dickinson on Feb. 22. It's believed to be the first meeting between the teams in the 2000's.

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