HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 4, 2020)  – Junior Ryan Gebhardt scored four goals but No. 20 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse was unable to hold onto a third-quarter lead before falling to No. 1 Salisbury University 14-8 Wednesday in a non-conference game played at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Senior Brendan Monteleone had two goals and sophomore Michael Burns added a pair of assists for the Ducks, who fell to 3-2. The contest kicked off a stretch of six straight games against teams ranked in, or receiving votes in, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division III Top-20 Poll.

Cross Ferrara had five goals and two assists and Griffin Moroney scored four times for the Sea Gulls, who improved to 5-0. Three of Salisbury's wins have come against nationally-ranked opponents.

"We are disappointed with the result," said head coach Gene Peluso. "We played great for two-thirds of the game. We did some good things on both ends of the field, but we need to close that out."

"Salisbury is a well coached and talented group," Peluso continued. "We will use this to build and prepare for our next game."

Junior Shawn Coulter and classmate Will Reed also found the back of the net for the Ducks, who have scored at least eight goals in 23 of their last 24 games. Junior Ryan Caplis and sophomore Craig Stockfeder joined Gebhardt in handing out an assist to round out Stevens' scoring.

Senior Jack Braswell started and made six saves. Freshman Connor Green came on for the fourth quarter and made five. T.J. Ellis played all 60 minutes for the Sea Gulls and made 12 saves to earn the victory.

Josh Melton opened scoring with his eighth goal of the year before Gebhardt and Monteleone scored 40 seconds apart to put the Ducks in front. Ferrara netted his first of the day to draw the teams even at two to close out the first question.

Gebhardt opened second-quarter scoring before Logan Posner beat Braswell to tie the score for the third time. The Baldwinsville, New York native completed his hat trick two minutes later, before Coulter beat Ellis to put the Ducks up two one-third of the way through the second quarter. Gebhardt would score his fourth of the day to send the teams into the intermission with Stevens leading by three. 

Reed scored his first goal since April 28, 2018 to open scoring in the third quarter, pouncing on a loose ball in front of the Salisbury net. The four-goal advantage was the largest deficit Salisbury had faced over the last 21 quarters. Moroney scored to pull the Sea Gulls within three, but Monteleone beat Ellis for the second time to put Stevens back up by four for the second time.

Moroney answered Monteleone's second tally of the game to begin Salisbury's comeback. Ferrara scored consecutive goals to pull the guests within one before Moroney scored twice in a 56-second span to give Salisbury its second lead of the day. Melton and Posner scored 30 seconds apart to give the Sea Gulls an 11-8 lead after three periods.

Salisbury scored the final three goals of the game to provide the final 14-8 margin.

Stevens outshot Salisbury, 44-33, including a 24-13 advantage over the first two quarters. The Ducks have outshot all five opponents this season. Gebhardt led all players with 13 shots, including seven on goal. Monteleone fired off 10 attempts as nine different players took one shot. Ferrara took 11 shots to lead Salisbury. The Ducks' defensive efforts held the Sea Gulls to their lowest shot total of the season.

Defensively, Crotty caused three turnovers for the second straight game and eight different players caused at least one turnover as Stevens registered 10 caused turnovers on 16 Salisbury miscues. Brad Greik and Brad Apgar each caused two turnovers to lead Salisbury.

The Ducks out-earned Salisbury in ground balls, picking up 33 against 30 for the Sea Gulls. Reed and Braswell picked up four ground balls each to lead 17 different players that scooped up at least one. Brett Malamphy picked six to pace Salisbury.

The Ducks' won 14 of the game's 26 faceoffs. Sophomore Lawrence Park won a season-high eight times in the 'X,' while senior senior Connor Murphy won six. Malamphy won 10 faceoffs to lead Salisbury. Stevens is the first team to outproduce Salisbury in the 'X' since March 27, 2019 - a span of 19 games.

Gebhardt scored his second power-play goal of the season as the Ducks converted one of their six man-advantage opportunities. Posner and Moroney each scored on the power play for Salisbury, who converted two of their three man-advantage opportunities.

Stevens was successful on 21 of their 23 clearing attempts, while Salisbury was successful on 15 of 20 attempts.

Up Next: No. 20 Men's Lacrosse returns to the field on March 11 for a contest at Montclair State. In a series that dates back to 1973, Stevens leads the all-time series 23-18. 

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