HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 13, 2022) – Sophomore
Joseph Grippo netted a career-high eight goals and finished with 10 points as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team defeated Fairleigh Dickinson University 25-2 Wednesday evening in a MAC Freedom matchup at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.
Grippo scored four times in the first quarter, twice in the second and twice more in the third to easily surpass his previous career-best of three, set last season against King's. The sophomore attack also dished out a pair of assists for the Ducks to lead 15 different players with at least one point.
Sophomore
Jack Savarese finished with a goal and two assists and first-year
Shea Grant had his first career hat trick for the Ducks, who won their fifth straight in moving to 7-6 on the year and to 5-0 in the MAC Freedom. The Ducks have won 28 consecutive league contests.
Nicholas Perillo had a goal and an assist to lead FDU-Florham, who has lost three straight in dropping to 3-8 on the year and to 1-3 in conference play. The Ducks have won all six meetings between the teams.
"It was great to get another conference win," head coach
Gene Peluso said. "It was also a great opportunity for us to play every healthy player."
"We were excited to see
Joseph Grippo perform so well in his first career start," Peluso continued. "Scoring eight goals and two assists in the amount of time he played was impressive."
Senior
Jackson Brown finished with two goals and an assist and senior
Michael Burns had one and one. Junior
Jake Wright and first-year
Nathan Lapat each scored twice, while junior
Henry Murtagh, sophomore Mikey, junior
Shaun Spiegel, first-years
Michael Farinacci and
Nicolas Accardo each had one. Graduate student
Ryan Caplis also found the back of the net to round out the Ducks' goal scorers. The tallies by Farinacci, Lapat and Accardo were the first of each player's career. Murtagh, Whiteside, Spiegel and first-years
Larson Cronk and
Jack Ramos each dished out an assist to round out the Ducks' offensive contributions,
Sophomore
Jake Zeyher made a pair of saves to earn the victory. Sophomore
Cooper Foote took over in the second quarter and made three saves. First-years
Justin Gold and
Quinton Smith split time in the cage in the second half, with Gold making three stops, while Smith had one. DAn Schlupp had 18 saves for FDU-Florham.
Wright gave the Ducks an early lead, scoring his sixth of season less than three minutes into play. The Ducks maintained possession when sophomore
Conner Park earned a faceoff win after a FDU violation and Whiteside scored off a nifty move to double the Ducks lead.
Michael Stewart put the Devils on the board, but Grippo answered 23 seconds later with his first of the evening, which sparked a run of 20 straight goals, which extended into the fourth quarter as the Ducks broke the game open. Eleven different players found the back of the net during the lengthy stretch.
Petrillo scored on the man-advantage 30 seconds into the final quarter to give FDU-Florham its second goal of the game, with tallies from Spiegel, Brown and Lapat providing the final margin of victory.
Stevens caused nearly half of FDU-Florham's 28 turnovers. Senior
George Benway and junior
Joe Cawley led the way with two caused turnovers each, while Lapat, Cronk, junior
David Bendis, senior
Craig Stockfeder, sophomore
Paddy Phelps, seniors
Matt Logan and
Aidan Hinphy and first-years
Dominic Piselli and
Jack Curry each had one. MacGyver Hay had two caused turnovers to pace FDU-Florham.
The Ducks also had a dominant effort in the faceoff circle, winning 23 of the 29 faceoffs. Sophomore
Russell Eberding turned in a sterling 10-0 performance, while Park won eight times. First-year Andew Muller earned the Ducks' other five wins in the circle. Eberding's 10 victories marked the fourth double-digit victory performance in the circle for the Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey -native.
"I thought we got a great game from
Russell Eberding at the faceoff dot, with hi, winning all 10 that he took," Peluso commented. "We also were impressed with the game from
George Benway - he caused multiple turnovers and did a great job clearing the ball, while playing great on-ball defense."
The edge in faceoffs helped Stevens match a season high with 53 ground balls. Eberding picked up six to lead the Ducks, while Park and first-year
Bryan Creamer each had five. Hay and Zachary Van Zile each picked up five to lead FDU-Florham, who finished with 28.
Stevens scored once in three power-play opportunities, with Brown's fourth-quarter tally coming while the Ducks were in the man-advantage. Stevens successfully killed off five of their six penalties.
The Ducks were also highly successful clearing the ball, going 31 for 32 on the evening. Stevens was a perfect 16 for 16 in the second half. Conversely, the Ducks' swarming defense held FDU-Florham to just 20 of 28.
Up Next: Men's Lacrosse heads to Owings Mills, Maryland to take on No. 17 Stevenson on Apr. 15. The contest marks the Ducks' final non-conference contest of the season. Links for live stats and video are available on StevensDucks.com.
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