HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 29, 2020)  – A five-goal third period proved to be the difference as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team defeated Springfield College 16-8 Saturday in a non-conference contest played at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Junior Ryan Gebhardt led the offense with four goals and three assists and classmate Nico Ipeker added three goals and two assists for the Ducks, who won their second straight to improve to 3-1 on the year. 

Kevin Tierney netted a hat trick for Springfield, who fell to 0-2. The Ducks have won four straight meetings between the teams.

"Proud of the way we played today. Good effort by the players today," said head coach Gene Peluso. "Really thought that Ryan Caplis set the tone early for us and our defense did a strong job today. We had players like Spears, Logan and Burns make impactful plays for us in the middle of the field."

"Our two captains down low, Bubba Brennan and Daniel Crotty, played great and caused a good amount of turnovers and picked up some key ground balls," Peluso continued. "I thought our riding and clearing was strong. We are excited to get back to work and focus on preparing for an excellent Salisbury group."

Junior Ryan Caplis posted a hat trick in the first quarter en route to a four-goal afternoon. Senior Brendan Monteleone finished with three goals and an assist as seven different players had at least one point. Sophomore Michael Burns totaled two goals and an assist and freshman Jake Wright and junior Tim Spears each added an assist to round out Stevens' scoring. Wright's second-quarter helper on Gebhardt's first goal of the afternoon was the first collegiate point for the Chesterfield, New Jersey native.

Freshman Shaun Spiegel and Joseph DeGuida made their collegiate debuts for the Ducks, while juniors Owen Stempkovski, Kyle McShea and Dan O'Connor made their season debuts.

Senior Jack Braswell started and earned his second win of the season. Freshman Connor Green relieved and made one save. Dan Biesty made 12 saves in defeat for Springfield. 

Nash opened the scoring on Springfield's first possession of the game. Caplis followed with three straight goals to give the Ducks a 3-1 lead after one period. Despite the Ducks holding the lead, it was Springfield that outshot Stevens 8-7.

Tierney scored his first of the day to open second-quarter scoring, but Gebahrdt had the answer less than 30 seconds later to return a two-goal lead for the home team. A tripping penalty led to a power-play goal for Alek Turi, but the Ducks scored three times over a three-minute stretch to open a 7-3 lead.

Patrick Watson and Tierney scored consecutive goals over a 90-second stretch to trim the Ducks' advantage two. A pushing penalty gave the Ducks an extra-man opportunity and Gebhardt beat Biesty with his first power-play goal of the year to send Stevens into the intermission with an 8-5 advantage.

After halftime, the Ducks' offense took over, with Monteleone scoring the first two goals of the frame and assisting on a third. Caplis added his fourth of the day and Gebhardt added his third of the day to push Stevens' lead to eight heading into the final quarter. The teams alternated the final six goals to provide the final margin of victory.

Stevens outshot Springfield 43-27, including a 28-9 margin in shots on goal. Gebhardt led all players with 14 shots, 12 of which registered on goal, to lead all players. Ipeker fired off eight attempts as seven players registered at least one shot attempt. Tommy Nash led Springfield with eight.

Defensively, Crotty caused three turnovers and Brennan and junior Shawn Coulter each caused two, as the Ducks collected 11 caused turnovers on 20 Springfield miscues. Stevens committed 13 turnovers. Despite the number of caused turnovers the defensive group's key stat was zero, as in the number of shots Springfield's Joe Hawley attempted.

An aggressive Stevens group picked up a season-best 41 ground balls, as opposed to 28 for the Pride. Coulter led the Ducks with seven, while Crotty and Gebhardt picked up five each. Joe Cameron led all players with 10.

The Ducks' won 13 of the game's 27 faceoffs. Senior Connor Murphy won nine times in the 'X', while sophomore Lawrence Park won four. Cameron won 14 times for Springfield to lead all players.

Gebhardt scored on the man-advantage as the Ducks were successful on one of its three power-play opportunities. Springfield converted its only extra-man opportunity.

The Ducks were perfect on all 21 of their clearing opportunities, while Springfield was successful on 19 of its 21 attempts.

Up Next: Men's Lacrosse welcomes top-ranked Salisbury campus for a 1:00 start at the DeBaun Athletic Complex on March 4. Links for live stats and video are available on StevensDucks.com.

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