HAVERFORD, Pa. (February 23, 2022)  – Senior Michael Burns had two goals and an assist and classmate Brendan Sullivan turned in his fourth career hat trick, but No. 18 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse fell to Haverford College 11-9 Wednesday evening in a non-conference contest played at Swan Field.

Junior Jake Wright and graduate student Ryan Caplis each had a goal and an assist for the Ducks, who dropped to 0-2.

Sean Mowatt-Larssen had four goals and an assist and Matt Richards recorded a hat trick for the Fords, who improved to 1-1. Haverford's victory evened the all-time series at five and the Fords' first victory over the Ducks since Mar. 29, 1978.

"A tough start again for us tonight," head coach Gene Peluso said. "To be behind 8-3 at halftime on the road is tough to overcome, especially to a well coached program. We certainly are not happy with our execution on either side of the field, but we will focus on improving and working to get better in all areas."

Senior Tyler Ryan dished out three assists and sophomore Jack Savarese also found the back of the net for the Ducks. First-year Shea Grant netted his first career goal to round out the Ducks' scoring. The contest marked Grant's collegiate debut.

"We have a gauntlet of a schedule and we knew this would be a challenging non-conference schedule for us this season," Peluso reflected. "We will get back to work and build on the positives, focusing our attention on a 1-0 Springfield squad, who is always an excellent opponent."

Sophomore Jake Zeyher made 17 saves for the Ducks, while Haverford's Colby Freeman stopped 11 shots to earn the victory.

Haverford scored the first goal of the contest, getting on the board near the midpoint of the opening quarter when Richards scored the first of his three goals on the evening. Sullivan beat Freeman for his third goal of the year, but the Fords strung together consecutive goals to take a 3-1 lead. 

Burns and Wright would find the back of the net to bring Stevens within 4-3, but the Fords scored four unanswered goals, including two on the man-advantage, to open a five-goal lead at halftime. 

The Ducks began their comeback right as play resumed in the third quarter, when Ryan found Savarese just 18 seconds in the stanza for his third goal of the year. The Wilton, Connecticut native has scored at least one goal in 17 of his 19 career games on Castle Point. Sullivan would complete his hat trick with consecutive goals as Stevens pulled within 9-6. 

Andrew Arth scored on a power-play goal to close out the third quarter and scored to open scoring in the final quarter to reopen a five-goal lead. Grant's first career goal sparked a run of three straight goals, including a man-advantage goal from Burns, to trim the deficit to two. Sophomore Russell Eberding won the faceoff following Caplis' goal to give the Ducks a chance to further cut into the lead, but Sullivan's shot was blocked and picked up and cleared by the Fords. 

Haverford finished with a 46-42 edge in shots, with the Fords outshooting the Ducks 15-7 in the third quarter to gain the final advantage. Of the Ducks' 42 shots, 20 were on goal, while Haverford registered 28. Mowatt-Larssen led both sides with 11 shots, including seven on target. Burns led the Ducks with nine, while Sullivan and Caplis had seven each.

Each side caused nine turnovers. Graduate students Owen Stempkovski and Sean Scadden each recorded two to lead the Ducks' efforts, while Caplis, first-year Bryan Creamer, senior Craig Stockfeder, junior Joe Cawley and classmate Joseph DeGuida each had one. Nate Rose caused two turnovers to lead Haverford.

The teams were evenly matched in the faceoff circle. Stevens won 12 times in the 'X,' while Haverford was victorious 11 times. Eberding accounted for 10 of Stevens' 12 wins, while senior Matt Logan and sophomore Conner Park each had one. Teddy Carlin recorded all of Haverford's faceoff wins.

Haverford held a 41-40 edge in ground balls, although the teams were even in the final three periods. Scadden picked up a game- and career-high seven, while Eberding, Stempkovski, DeGuida, Cawley and Zeyher each had four. Arth led Haverford with six.

The Fords scored three power-play goals on five extra-man opportunities, while Burns' fourth-quarter marker was the Ducks' lone tally on three powerplays.

Stevens went 21 for 24 on its clearing attempts, while Haverford finished 22 of 23. The Ducks were perfect (7 for 7) in both the first and third quarters..

Up Next: No. 18 Men's Lacrosse welcomes Springfield to the DeBaun Athletic Complex on Feb. 26. The Ducks are 11-5 all-time against the Pride and have won each of the last four meetings. Links for live stats and video are available on StevensDucks.com.

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