OWINGS MILLS, Md. (March 6, 2021)  – Four different student-athletes found the back of the net but the Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team fell to Stevenson University Saturday afternoon in a non-conference matchup at Mustang Stadium. 

Fifth-year Kyra Bednarski had a goal and an assist and classmate Emily Shanklin also scored for the Ducks, who fell to 0-1. Caroline Murphy had five goals for Stevenson, who moved to 1-0. The contest marked the season opener for the Ducks and the first contest for the program in 361 days. The teams have split their four all-time meetings. 

Junior Morgan Westerby also found the back of the net for the Ducks as did sophomore Maddie Schmidt. Junior Camryn Rogers added an assist in her Stevens debut to round out the scoring. In addition to Rogers' Stevens' debut, junior Josie Cook and sophomore Zoe Cook also made their first appearances for the program. First-years Emily Leiby, Carly Walker and Jillian McDonald each saw game action in making their collegiate debuts. 

"Stevenson was a good team and really challenged us today," said head coach Karen Shaddock. "It's hard to put things together in just a few practices after a year off. We had some really great moments; we just need to work on playing like that consistently."

"I was really impressed with our team's composure and leadership when calls weren't going our way," the third-year head coach continued. I'm most proud of our resilience. They are eager to learn from this and I have no doubt we will be a better team by Thursday."

Senior Peyton Taylor drew the season-opening start for the Ducks and made one save. Junior Lauren Cunniff relieved in the second half and made six saves. Sophie Shucosky stopped eight shots for Stevenson to earn the win. 

After Shanklin earned the game-opening draw control, the Ducks quickly took advantage with Rogers finding Westerby for the first goal of the season, just 40 seconds into the contest. The Marlton, New Jersey native had four goals one season ago.

Murphy netted the equalizer four minutes later, which sparked a stretch of five straight goals for the home team to take control of the contest. Schmidt found the back of the net with just under 12 minutes left in the opening half to halt the Mustang run.

Murphy completed her hat trick 90 seconds later before Shanklin scored for the first time in exactly one calendar year to bring the Ducks back to within three. Mary Marc scored on a free-position shot to spark a stretch of four straight goals for the Mustangs that bookended halftime.

Bednarski extended her goal scoring streak to 41 with a power-play goal to draw the Ducks within six. The woman-advantage goal was the first for the program since May 4, 2019 in the Empire 8 Conference semifinals. Murphy netted her final goal of the day and Kara Yarusso found the back of the net with just under 10 minutes left to play to close out scoring.

The Mustangs outshot the Ducks 25-20, including a 19-12 advantage in shots on goal. Bednarski had six shots, five on-net, to lead Stevens, while Murphy fired off seven shots to lead all players. 

As a team, Stevens registered a total of 16 caused turnovers, while Stevenson totaled 13. Bednarski joined sophomore Olivia Sohl in causing a team-high three turnovers, while 10 different student-athletes had at least one. Murphy led all student-athletes in the statistic with four. 

Stevens out-earned the hosting Mustangs in ground balls, 22-17, including a 14-10 margin in the second half. Westerby and Bednarski each scooped up three ground balls to lead 15 different Ducks with at least one. Murphy, the 2019 MAC Commonwealth Rookie of the Year, picked up three as well, to lead Stevenson.

Each team corralled 10 draw controls. Shanklin matched Stevenson's Kaitlyn Kozlowski with five draws, while Zoe Cook and sophomore Maris Daly each earned two. Rogers also added a draw control to round out the Ducks' efforts. 

The Ducks were successful on 12 of their 20 clearing attempts, while Stevenson was successful on 10 of its 20 attempts.

Stevens converted one of its three free-position shots, with Bednarski accounting for the Ducks' lone free-position tally on the afternoon. Stevenson went 4 for 5 on free-position attempts with four players converting their eight-meter shots..

Up Next: Women's Lacrosse is scheduled to welcome Messiah University to the DeBaun Athletic Complex on Mar. 11 for the Ducks' home opener. The Falcons were receiving votes in the most-recent Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association poll.

It will be the first meeting between the programs since Mar. 16, 2005. Stevens leads the all-time series 2-0. 

Please note that all event times, dates and opponents are subject to change and fans remain prohibited from attending Stevens' home athletic events.

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