HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 21, 2021)  – Recognized for his play in the defensive end of the field, senior Jason Coyle picked a great moment to have a career day in the offensive end.

Coyle recorded his first career hat trick to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team to a 20-3 victory over DeSales University Wednesday in a MAC Freedom matchup at the DeBaun Athletic Complex. The victory was the fourth in a row for the Ducks and secured the program's first MAC Freedom regular-season title. 

Senior Ryan Caplis scored three times and classmate Ryan Gebhardt added three goals and three assists for the Ducks, who moved to 8-2 on the year and a perfect 8-0 in conference play. Stevens has won each of the last 23 regular season conference games. Under 12th-year head coach Gene Peluso, the Ducks have captured five regular-season titles, including each of the last four completed seasons, excluding the abbreviated 2020 campaign. The win was the 275th of Peluso's distinguished coaching career.

"It was great to get another MAC Freedom win against a good DeSales team," said head coach Gene Peluso. "I thought we did a lot of great things tonight on both the offensive and defensive ends of the field. I thought we played fast, but credit to their goalie for playing well and making a lot of saves."

Junior Craig Stockfeder opened scoring in the first quarter, taking a feed from first-year Nolan Quade to complete the transition following a successful clear. Two possessions later, Coyle brought the DeBaun crowd to its feet after the Caldwell, New Jersey native finished a successful clear with his first goal since Mar. 17, 2018. Coyle would later convert a Michael Burns feed in the second quarter for his second marker of the evening and the defenseman completed his first career hat trick in the fourth quarter, scoring the Ducks' final tally of the contest.

"Coyle received the coaches' top game award for his play on the defensive end, but also for scoring three goals with an assist as a long stick!" Peluso commented.

Kai Taylor scored twice for DeSales, who fell to 5-3 on the year and to 4-1 in conference play. The Bulldogs remain in second place in the MAC Freedom, with only a tilt with Misericordia University left on its conference schedule. The three-goal outing marked the Bulldogs' lowest total of the season.

"Our starting defense did a great job, as did our starting goalie," Peluso offered. "Hinphy, Crotty and Cawley really did a great job with their matchups. The play in the middle of the field that Bubba Brennan, Noah Frantz and Jason Coyle provided was impressive."

First-year Jake Zeyher started and made six saves to earn the victory. Senior Danny Tierney relieved in the fourth quarter, making one save. Quinten Lyons made 19 saves in defeat for DeSales.

First-year Jack Savarese led all student-athletes with four goals to record his seventh hat trick of the season. The Wilton, Connecticut native has posted a hat trick in each of the last three games and four of his last five. Savarese is second on the team with 28 goals. The Ducks have scored 20 or more goals six times this season and rank inside the top 20 in Division III in scoring offense.

"We received a great shooting day from Jack Savarese and liked the goals from Ryan Caplis." Peluso added.

Junior Michael Burns added a pair of goals with two assists and senior Shawn Coulter added two goals and an assist as nine different student-athletes found the back of the net. First-year Nolan Quade had a goal and two assists and fellow first-year Mikey Whiteside also found the back of the net to round out the goal scorers. Junior Brendan Sullivan had an assist to round out the Ducks' offensive production.

"There are obviously things to work on," Peluso said. "We need to clean up our shooting a little bit as we prepare for a very good Eastern team on Friday night. It will be an exciting night Friday as we honor our 2021 seniors before the game and then honor our 2020 seniors at halftime. I am looking forward to the special event."

Following Coyle's first goal of the game, Savarese beat Lyons for his first of the game to give the Ducks a 3-0 lead through the first period.

Burns netted his 18th of the season to open scoring early in the second period. Coyle and Quade each scored to push the lead to six. The offensive burst forced the Bulldogs to move to a 10-man ride to try and slow down the surging Duck offense, only for it to lead to Burns' second tally of the day to push the advantage to 7-1. Gebhardt beat the second quarter buzzer to send the teams into the intermission with Stevens holding a commanding 8-1 lead.

The third quarter saw the Ducks erupt for eight goals on 20 shots to essentially put the game out of reach. Caplis completed his first hat trick of the season to open fourth-quarter scoring before Coulter and Gebhardt beat Lyons to give the Ducks a 19-2 lead. Coyle's final marker of the day concluded the Ducks' scoring, with his teammates giving the fourth-year defenseman a nice ovation from the sidelines.

Stevens outshot DeSales 62-16, including a 38-6 margin spread between the second and third quarters. Gebhardt led all student-athletes with 18 shots, with Caplis adding 11. Taylor paced DeSales with five.

Coulter and sophomore Joe Cawley each caused three turnovers as the Ducks forced DeSales into 31 turnovers. Stockfeder, Crotty and Brennan each registered a pair of caused turnovers and nearly half of the DeSales miscues were unforced. Stevens committed seven turnovers in each half to finish with 14 for the game. 

The Ducks won 16 of the game's 27 faceoffs. Junior Larry Park won 12 times in the circle, with first-year Conner Park adding four. Chase Yoder won 11 times for DeSales.

Behind a season-high nine from Coulter, the Ducks won the ground ball battle, 54-31. Stockfeder and Larry Park scooped up seven each as 18 different student-athletes picked up one each. Yoder led the Bulldogs with five.

The Ducks went 1 for 3 on extra-man opportunities, with Whiteside converting in the third quarter for the team's only EMO goal of the evening. Stevens killed off its only penalty of the contest.

Stevens remains among the national leaders in clearing percentage and went 28 for 29 in tonight's game to increase their season percentage to 90 percent. Conversely, DeSales was successful on 21 of its 29 attempts.

Tonight's meeting was the first between the teams since Mar. 20, 2002 and the Ducks' double-digit win moved Stevens to 4-3 all-time against DeSales. Three of the Ducks' four wins over DeSales have taken place in the friendly confines of the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Up Next: Men's Lacrosse welcomes Eastern University to campus on Apr. 23 for the first of consecutive non-conference matchups to close out the regular season. It is believed to be the first meeting between the programs. The content will serve as Senior Day for the Ducks, who will hold two ceremonies during the game: one prior to the start of the contest to recognize the Class of 2021 and then one at halftime to honor the Class of 2020. The action gets underway at 7:00 and links for live stats and video are available on StevensDucks.com.

Please note that all event times, dates and opponents are subject to change.

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