CHESTER, Pa. (April 27, 2021)  – Senior Ryan Caplis scored 70 seconds into overtime to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team over Widener University 14-13 Tuesday evening in a non-conference matchup at Elizabeth J. Hirschmann Field at Leslie C. Quick Jr. Stadium. 

Senior Ryan Gebhardt took possession of the ball after a Stevens timeout at the edge of the attacking third to begin the winning play. Gebhardt quickly fed junior Michael Burns behind the cage. Burns evaded pressure from a Widener defender and reversed direction with the ball moving clockwise to junior Tyler Ryan. Ryan found a wide-open Caplis at the top of the zone. Caplis took a quick step and fired off a blistering shot that reached the bottom part of the net to propel the Ducks to victory. The Mooresville, North Carolina native threw his hands up in the air and dropped his stick in celebration of his fourth career game-winning goal and was promptly joined by his teammates near midfield. 

Caplis' overtime marker was the exclamation point on the Ducks' sixth straight victory. The Ducks rallied from a pair of three-goal deficits to close out the regular season 10-2. Caplis, who recorded his third straight hat trick, scored each of his three goals in the fourth quarter or later. 

"A very tough win tonight," said head coach Gene Peluso. "Widener has a great program that is well coached and I have a lot of respect for the way they played tonight."

"The ultimate game award went to Ryan Caplis, who had three great goals for us, including the overtime winner," Peluso continued. "I think the way we fought back and won it in overtime was the best aspect of tonight's win. Games like tonight are valuable because we know they can serve us well moving forward."

Connor Heisman had three goals and two assists for Widener, who dropped to 8-5. The Pride have alternated wins and losses over their last six contests. Stevens improved to 4-0 all-time against the Pride. The overtime victory was the first for the Ducks' since May 9, 2018, when Stevens rallied to defeat Springfield College in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Ducks begin postseason play later this week.

"Our focus now becomes the MAC Freedom Playoffs," Peluso offered. "We will get back to work tomorrow to get ready for our quarterfinal matchup with Lycoming."

Gebhardt finished the game with five goals, marking the fifth time the Baldwinsville, New York native has netted five or more goals. First-year Jack Savarese added three goals and an assist as nine different student-athletes found the scoresheet. Senior Shawn Coulter and first-year Mikey Whiteside each finished with a goal and an assist, while junior Brendan Sullivan scored for the fourth time in six games. Ryan finished with three assists and junior Larry Park and graduate student Bubba Brennan each had one to round out Stevens' scoring.

First-year Jake Zeyher drew the start and made a career-high nine saves, including one in over time, to earn the victory. Carter Landry made 15 saves for Widener. Zeyher's save on Nick Dicicco's shot kept the teams tied and began the Ducks' transition to offense. After a successful clear, the Ducks called a timeout that set up Caplis' heroics.

"Love that our first-year goalie was able to make a big save for us in overtime," Peluso commented.

Coulter put the Ducks on the board midway through the opening quarter. Gebhardt followed 54 seconds later to give Stevens a two-goal advantage. Widener then bridged the first and second quarters with five straight goals to take a 5-2 lead. 

"We had a hard time getting going early and just weren't playing fast enough to penetrate the Widener defense." Peluso commented. "Having said that, I am very pleased to see our team gut it out in the second half and play with heart and come back to win a tough game."

Gebhardt and Heisman alternated goals, before consecutive goals from Savarese and Gebhardt within one. The Pride would score three of the next four goals, including a goal from Mario Scotese 20 seconds before the second-period buzzer, to take a three-goal lead into halftime. 

After Sullivan and Heisman exchanged goals to begin play in the third quarter, Stevens went on a six-goal run to turn a 10-7 deficit into a 13-10 advantage. Four different student-athletes scored during the sequence, with Savarese and Caplis each providing two.

"We love how some of our student-athletes stepped up and played tonight," Peluso said. "The coaches recognized Joseph' DeGuida for his tough play with ground balls and strong defense in the second half. The coaches also recognized Tyler Ryan for the boost he gave our offense as a quarterback in the second half as we made our push."

Widener scored three times in the final five minutes to force overtime before Caplis provided the final outcome with his 21st career goal. 

The Ducks finished with a 49-37 advantage in shots, including a 15-6 margin in the third quarter. Gebhardt led both teams with 14 shots, while Savarese had nine. Diiorio and Paz Gismondi each had seven shots to lead Widener.

Widener committed 18 turnovers, with Stevens causing six of the 18. Senior Jason Coyle had two caused turnovers to lead the Ducks. Conversely, Stevens committed 16 turnovers on the evening, with Widener causing seven.

Stevens won 19 faceoffs against 12 for the Pride. Larry Park accounted for 17 of the Ducks' 19 wins, with first-year Conner registering the other two. Kenneth Watts had seven to lead Widener. 

Thanks to 11 from Larry Park, the Ducks held a 42-31 margin in ground balls. Coulter added six and junior Aidan Hinphy had four, as 15 different student-athletes scooped up at least one. Connor Ball picked up four to pace the Pride.

Continuing to be highly efficient in clears, Stevens finished the game 15 for 17, while the Pride were 17 for 23. 

Up Next: Men's Lacrosse opens the MAC Freedom Championship tournament Friday evening with a quarterfinal matchup against eighth-seeded Lycoming College. The action gets underway at 4 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.

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