MONTCLAIR, N.J. (March 11, 2020)  – Five straight fourth-quarter goals snapped a 7-7 tie as No. 19 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse defeated Montclair State University 12-8 in a non-conference game played at Sprague Field. 

Junior Sean Kunz began the game-changing stretch with his second goal of the year, before classmate Ryan Gebhardt scored on the power-play to put Stevens up 9-7. Senior Brendan Monteleone scored back-to-back goals less than a minute apart to double the Ducks' lead and junior Ryan Caplis added his sixth of the year to push the score to 12-7.

Gebhardt and Monteleone each finished the game with three goals and sophomore Michael Burns added his first career hat trick for the Ducks, who improved to 4-2 on the year. Stevens defeated its Route 3 rival for the fifth straight time and leads the all-time series 24-18, in a series that dates back to 1973.

Tyler McCreery and Matt Dancsecs each had three goals for Montclair State, who fell to 4-2. The Red Hawks have dropped two straight.

"I'm proud of how we played in the second half, and more specifically, in the fourth quarter," said head coach Gene Peluso. "We got an excellent game from Daniel Crotty - he pretty much shut down his matchup and caused havoc the whole game."

"Offensively, we got a great game from Michael Burns with his goals early and Brendan Monteleone with his goals late," Peluso continued. "I love the goal we got from Sean Kunz. I thought both goalies did their job tonight and made some great saves. We were excited to get the win against a very athletic and well coached Montclair State team."

Junior Shawn Coulter finished with a goal and two assists and Caplis dished out one assist to go along with his fourth-quarter marker to round out Stevens' scoring. The Ducks have scored at least eight goals in every game this season.

Senior Jack Braswell started and made five saves over the first two quarters. Freshman Connor Green came on for the fourth quarter and also made five saves to earn the victory. Matthew McLaren played all 60 minutes for the Red Hawks and made 17 saves in defeat.

McCreery opened scoring 45 seconds into the game, taking a Christian Boyle feed to beat Braswell after Montclair State won the opening faceoff. Monteleone netted his first of the evening to even the score, before Dancsecs and Burns alternated goals to draw the teams even for the second time.

Steve Prince found the back of the net 37 seconds after Burns to give the hosting Red Hawks a 3-2 lead after one quarter. McCreery and Dancsecs each collected their second goals of the day to open a three-goal lead three-quarters of the way through the second period. 

Burns beat McLaren for the second time with two minutes remaining in the first half to spark a Stevens scoring run, Coulter scored 60 seconds later to bring the Ducks within one at the intermission.

Burns completed his hat trick to open scoring in the third quarter, drawing the teams even for the third time of the evening. Gebhardt posted his first of the night to extend the Ducks' run to run, before Dancsecs briefly slowed down Stevens before Gebhardt handed the Ducks their second lead of the evening with his 21st goal of the year. The Baldwinsville, New York native leads the MAC Freedom in both goals and points per game.

McCreery opened fourth-quarter scoring a man-advantage goal for his 14th tally of the season, however, Kunz sparked the offense two minutes later as the Ducks scored four consecutive goals for the second time in the game to take control of the contest. Skylar Francisco added a power-play goal to complete the scoring and provide Stevens' final margin of victory.

Stevens outshot Montclair State, 49-29, including a 29-18 in shots on goal The Ducks have outshot all six opponents this season and the team's 29 shots on goal matched a season-high. Burns fired off a career-high 14 shots to lead all players, while Gebhardt attempted nine. Dancsecs took five attempts to pace the Red Hawks. 

Defensively, six different players registered two caused turnovers each as the Ducks totaled 14 caused turnovers on 28 Montclair State miscues. Tyler Ball led all players with four caused turnovers as Montclair State accumulated 11 caused turnovers on 21 Stevens miscues. 

The Ducks won the ground ball battle, totaling 36, against just 30 for Montclair State. Coulter led the Ducks with a season-high seven as 15 different student-athletes picked up at least one. Crotty picked up five ground balls and senior Bubba Brennan scooped up four for the Ducks, who are averaging 37 per game, which ranks second in the MAC Freedom. Wilson Smith picked up six to lead Montclair State, while Ball added five,

The Ducks' won 11 of the game's 23 faceoffs. Sophomore Lawrence Park matched a season-high by winning eight times in the 'X,' for the second straight game, while senior senior Connor Murphy won three times. Kyle Matthews won nine times out of 16 in the face-off circle, while Dario Sirni posted three victories.

Gebhardt scored his third power-play goal of the season, and second in as many games, as the Ducks converted one of their two man-advantage opportunities. McCreery and Francisco had power-play goals for Montclair State, who scored twice on four man-advantage opportunities.

Stevens was successful on 18 of their 21 clearing attempts, while the Red Hawks were successful on 21 of their 29 attempts. Stevens leads the MAC Freedom in clearing percentage.

Up Next: No. 19 Men's Lacrosse's next game is scheduled to be against Hampden-Sydney College on March 18 at Cape Henry High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It is believed to be the first meeting between the programs.

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