HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 26, 2020)  – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team opens its 20th season of intercollegiate competition and second season under head coach Karen Shaddock Wednesday afternoon against Montclair State University. It marks the second straight year that the Ducks take on the Red Hawks in their season opener.

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Stevens is coming off a 9-10 campaign, but the team posted a 6-2 record in Empire 8 Conference play and knocked off Utica College 11-6 to reach the conference championship game before falling to nationally-ranked St. John Fisher. The team found its stride in the second half of the year, winning three of their last four contests to close out the season. The Ducks won back-to-back conference games to close out the regular season, sliding into the third seed of the conference tournament after defeating Hartwick 17-5 in the regular-season finale.

Up First
Stevens and Montclair State are no strangers to one another, meeting 23 times prior to today's game. The Ducks are 14-9 all-time against their Route 3 rivals, including victories in two of the last three meetings.

Montclair State arrives in Hoboken off a 16-4 victory over Farmingdale State in the team's season opener. Seven different players scored at least one goal for the Red Hawks, who have won six straight over the Rams.

Today's game is the first time Stevens has opened at home since the 2017 season. The Ducks were slated to open 2019 at the DeBaun Athletic Complex against Rowan, but the game was postponed because of inclement weather and then relocated to Glassboro.

Home Cooking
Over the last six seasons, Stevens is 36-15 in the friendly confines of the DeBaun Athletic Complex. Counting today, the Ducks will play eight matchups on campus, including consecutive contests against Kean and Rowan on March 3 and 7, respectively, and DeSales and Wilkes on April 1 and 4.

Full Slate
Coach Shaddock has put together a challenging 2020 schedule, including a pair of games against NCAA tournament teams from one season ago.

Following today's opener, the Ducks head to Sparks Glencoe, Maryland for a neutral-site game against Shenandoah University at the U.S. Lacrosse Headquarters. The Ducks return to campus for consecutive games against Kean and Rowan before hitting the road for matchups against Union (Mar. 11) and MIT (Mar. 14). 

Springfield College comes to town on March 17 for the first meeting between the programs since 2012. The Pride fell to Franklin & Marshall in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament. The Ducks travel to No. 18 Trinity to close out a three-game road stretch on Mar. 28 before opening MAC Freedom play against DeSales on April 1. Each of Stevens' final seven games are slated to be conference games. Over its last six seasons in the Empire 8, the Ducks posted a 37-10 record in the regular season. 

New Beginnings
In its first season in the MAC Freedom, the Ducks received a pair of first-place votes to finish tied for second in the conference's Preseason Coaches Poll. Defending champion, Misericordia, was expected to repeat as conference champs, receiving five of the seven first-place votes to finish atop the poll with 47 points after a perfect 7-0 record in league play. The Cougars won the 
conference tournament and bested Endicott College in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to York (Pa.) College in the second round. The Spartans will join the MAC Commonwealth next summer. FDU-Florham collected one first-place vote and tied with Stevens for second with 41 points. The Devils were selected to the ECAC Tournament, but fell to Cabrini in the first round. Stevens plays at the Cavaliers on March 21 hosts the Devils in the penultimate game of the regular season on April 22.

Chasing History
Three single-game records were set in 2019. Now senior Kyra Bednarski totaled 10 goals and 13 points against Rhodes College on March 18 and now junior Peyton Taylor made 19 saves against Rowan on March 9.

This season, several records are set to be broken. Bednarski needs seven assists to become the program's career leader. Liz Mather holds the record of 110, set between the 2005-08 season. The Syracuse, New York native also needs 98 points to become the career leader in points. Alyssa Pigott totaled 389 from 2007-10. 

Joining Bednarski in the pursuit of a program record is classmate Emily Shankin. The Berkeley, Michigan native needs to earn 84 draw controls to become the program's all-time leader. Christine Smith collected 300 between 2008-11. Shanklin is already in possession of the program's single-game and single-season records.

Welcome Back
Bednarski and Shanklin were recognized as All-Boardwalk Region performers by the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association. The duo were also selected to the All-Empire 8 Conference teams. Senior Hannah Condren (21 goals and seven assists) and sophomore Morgan Westerby (20 goals, 43 draw controls) are expected to again play key roles for the team as four of the Ducks' six-all conference honorees return in 2020.

Offensively, eight of the Ducks' top-nine scorers return to the lineup. Sophomores Maeve McGovern (16 goals, 13 assists), Gale Bennett (11 goals, 12 assists) and Natalie Fitzpatrick (15 goals) join senior Bri Salera (9 goals) as offensive threats on a team that averaged over 11 goals per game in outscoring and outshooting opponents over the course of the season.

Defensively, senior Kayla Buell and sophomore Meredith Conlin are expected to anchor a defensive line that caused nearly 200 turnovers in 2019 and was successful on 76 percent of its clearing attempts.

In goal, Taylor returns in the cage, along with sophomore Lauren Cunniff. Taylor made 70 stops in 2019 and earned six victories. Cunniff posted a 2-1 record, while making 16 saves in her first season on Castle Point.

Welcome to Castle Point
Coach Shaddock and staff welcome nine new players to the team, including eight first-year student-athletes and one sophomore.

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