WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (March 27, 2021)  – Fifth-year Kyra Bednarski turned in her fifth career game with double-digit points to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team to a 23-6 victory over Wilkes University Saturday in a MAC Freedom matchup at Schmidt Stadium.

Sophomore Maris Daly turned in the best offensive performance of her career on Castle Point with a goal and five assists and junior Josie Cook and sophomore Maddie Schmidt each added three goals and an assist for the Ducks, who evened their record at 2-2 on the year., while moving to 2-1 in conference play.

Domenica Lerch had a goal and two assists and Ashley Burkhardt scored twice for the Colonels, who fell to 1-4 on the year and to 1-3 in the MAC Freedom. It is believed to be the first meeting between the teams.

"I'm really happy with our performance," said head coach Karen Shaddock. "We continue to get better every game. We put a lot of pieces together today and it was great to see. We had so many threats offensively; it was true team offense. Kyra played fantastic and had a lot of options around her. Our draw team gets better every game they work together. We are excited to keep getting better and build off these moments."

Bednarski, who opened scoring 95 seconds into the game, finished with eight goals and three assists to total 11 points, matching her season high, and falling two points shy of matching both her career high and the program's single game points record. The high-scoring attackwoman extended her goal-scoring streak to 44 and is currently leading the MAC Freedom in assists per game, while ranking second in points per game. She's ranked second among all active NCAA women's lacrosse players with 345 career points and is 44 points away from becoming the program's all-time career points leader.

Juniors Natalie Fitzpatrick and Morgan Westerby joined fifth-year Emily Shanklin in scoring a pair of goals for the Ducks, who saw nine different student-athletes register at least one point. Sophomore Julieann Murphy had a goal and an assist and junior Sam Gajda recorded her first collegiate goal to round out the scoring.

Senior Peyton Taylor started and made one save in earning her second victory of the season. Sophomore Kate Killian relieved at the start of the second half and junior Lauren Cunniff played the final 13 minutes as all three netminders saw action for the first time this season. Ashley Coughlin made five saves in defeat for Wilkes.

Fifth-year Tara Ravoli collected her first draw control since May 6, 2018 to give the Ducks the first possession of the game. After the teams alternated turnovers, Bednarski was awarded a free-position shot and the Syracuse, New York native beat Coughlin to put Stevens in front. Bednarski would score three times in the first five minutes of the game to post her third hat trick of the season.

Burkhardt would put Wilkes on the board with her second goal of the season, briefly slowing down the Ducks' offense, however the high-flying team from Hoboken answered with goals from Bednarski, Schmidt and Shanklin over the next two minutes to take a commanding 6-1 lead.

The offense continued to come in bunches for the Ducks with goals from Fitzpatrick, Cook and Westerby providing Stevens with a 9-1 lead before the ten-minute mark of the opening half. All totaled seven different student-athletes scored in the first half as the Ducks reached the important 10-goal margin midway through the opening stanza and went into the intermission with a 15-2 lead.

Cook opened scoring in the second half with her fifth goal at Stevens and completed her first career hat trick at the 11-minute mark. Burkhardt netted her second of the day to answer Cook's half-opening maker, but the Ducks scored seven unanswered goals to take a 23-3 lead. Wilkes scored three times over the game's final six minutes to provide the final margin. 

Stevens fired off 37 shots, with a season-high 28 registering on-goal. Bednarski fired off a game-high 10 shots to lead the Ducks, while Lerch and Burkhardt took two each to lead the Colonels.

The Ducks forced 15 Wilkes turnovers on the day, with 10 taking place in the decisive opening half. Bednarski matched a career high with three caused turnovers, while eight student-athletes each added one. Jessica White caused two turnovers to lead Wilkes, who forced the Ducks into 11 miscues.

A total of 13 Ducks picked up at least one ground ball as Stevens totaled 17 on the day. Bednarski picked up a team-high three, while Zoe Cook and Ravoli each had two. Laura Bayzick and Laurel Hopfer matched Bednarski with three ground balls to lead Wilkes, who totaled 11 on the day.

After setting a season-high for draw controls against FDU-Florham, Stevens was even better against Wilkes, corralling 22 draw controls to mark a new season high, falling one shy of matching a program record that has stood since Apr. 10, 2005. 

The Ducks were a perfect 8 for 8 on clear attempts, going 6 for 6 in the opening half and 2 for 2 in the second. The Ducks did not allow Wilkes much room to get comfortable in the midfield, holding the Colonels to just 7 of 12 on clears. 

Bednarski was a perfect 2 for 2 on free-position shots, while Zoe Cook and Westerby each converted their lone opportunity, as the Ducks were 4 for 4 on eight-meter shots for the game. Wilkes was 2 for 4 on their free-position shots, with Delaney Lukowski and Brooklyn Pedana accounting for the Colonels' eight-meter goals.  

There was just one penalty in the contest, a yellow card to Wilkes' Breanne Fulling late in the second half.

Up Next: Women's Lacrosse welcomes No. 21 Messiah University to Hoboken for a non-conference tilt on Mar. 30. The action gets underway at 4:00 p.m. Links for live stats and video are available on StevensDucks.com.

Please note that all event times, dates and opponents are subject to change and fans remain prohibited from attending Middle Atlantic Conference athletic events.

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