HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 6, 2022)  – Junior Gavin Maute of the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team heard his name called over the public address system and rose from his seat on the bench and ran through a tunnel of his teammates and onto the DeBaun Athletic Complex turf to an eruption of cheers. 

The victory had already taken place before the Ducks even took the field.

Maute made his triumphant return to the sport he loves after a year-long battle with cancer in a pregame ceremony that ended with his name being the only one announced for the Ducks' starting lineup. The contest marked Maute's first appearance in a home Stevens jersey after successfully beating Stage IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma earlier this year. Friends and family, fans, and a large contingent from Mountain Lakes high school, lined the DeBaun Athletic Complex for the game, one where the final result was secondary to the pregame ceremony.

Once play finally began, however, the final script couldn't have been written in any other manner.

Maute netted his first career goal on a nifty backhanded shot in the second quarter as the Ducks defeated Delaware Valley University 23-4 Wednesday in a MAC Freedom matchup.

Senior Michael Burns and sophomore Jack Savarese each totaled seven points for the Ducks, who won their third straight to move to 5-6 on the year and to 3-0 in league play. The seven-point outing for Burns moved the Waxhaw, North Carolina native over the 100 career point plateau. The victory extended the Ducks' streak to 26 consecutive regular-season conference victories.

Travis Berman scored twice for Delaware Valley, who dropped to 3-7 on the year and to 1-1 in league play. The Aggies have dropped two straight. 

"Tonight will go down as one of the most impactful games I've ever coached in my career," head coach Gene Peluso said. "To watch Gavin go out there and start and STAR, was so rewarding. [Gavin] scoring a goal is so fitting because no one deserves it more than he does."

Graduate student Ryan Caplis had three goals and an assist and senior Brendan Sullivan finished with his fourth hat trick of the season to lead the Ducks, who saw 15 different players register at least one point. The Ducks totaled 13 assists on their 23 goals and lead the conference with 91 assists. 

"I thought our whole team did an excellent job of focusing on supporting number 46, while also remaining focused on our opponent," Peluso shared. "The support that we received from the Mountain Lakes community, the Stevens community, our friends and families, and the Stevens administration was extraordinary."

Junior Jake Wright scored twice, as did sophomore Joseph Grippo. Senior Tyler Ryan joined senior Henry Murtagh, graduate student Sean Scadden and junior Shaun Spiegel in scoring for the Ducks, who had 12 different players find the back of the net. Burns had four assists to pace Stevens, while Savarese had three. Ryan, Murtagh, senior Craig Stockfeder, sophomore Mikey Whiteside and senior Tom Conway each dished out an assist to round out the Ducks' offensive contributions. It was Savarese that fed Maute for his highlight reel goal.

"We love the game we received from Michael Burns, who scored his hundredth point as a Duck," Peluso commented. "We also loved the play we received from Jack Savarese with his four goals and three assists."

Sophomore Jake Zeyher made one save in earning the victory in the cage for the Ducks, For the second straight game all four goalies saw time between the pipes, with first-year Justin Gold making two saves in eight minutes of action. First-year Cooper Foote made one save and Quinton Smith closed out the contest. Jim Murphy made 20 saves in defeat for the Aggies and Ryley Savering made two saves in the final quarter. 

It was Delaware Valley that got off to a fast start, scoring a power-play goal less than four minutes into play. The Ducks responded in a big way, scoring four goals over a three-minute stretch to jump in front for good. Savarese scored twice in 34 seconds, while Ryan beat Murphy to give the Ducks a 3-1 lead. Savarese completed his 16th career hat trick moments later to push the lead to three. In just 28 career games, Savarese is four points shy of 100 for his career.

Berman scored his first of the night to halt the Ducks' scoring run, but Stevens responded with the next 10 goals to take a commanding 13-2 lead at the intermission. Over a dominating first half, Stevens held the Aggies to just five shots, while forcing 15 turnovers.

Caplis opened scoring in the second half with his 14th of the year, while Nick Bogdan netted the Aggies' penultimate goal. The Ducks closed out the period with three straight goals, including Caplis' hat trick goal to open a 15-goal lead. 

Grippo scored twice in a 21-second span to open the scoring in the fourth, while Murtagh followed with his first goal of the season. Spiegel and Johnson found the back of the net after Berman's second goal of the contest to close out the scoring.

Stevens forced their opponent into 29 turnovers for the second straight game, including 11 in the opening quarter. The Ducks forced 19 of the Aggies' 29 miscues, with Ryan and junior David Bendis each causing three. Bryce Regan had three caused turnovers for Delaware Valley who caused seven of the Ducks' 19 turnovers.

Stevens went 23-8 in the faceoff circle. Sophomore Conner Park had 13 wins in the 'X' and first-year added 10 for his second straight contest with double-digit faceoff wins. Freddie Offenburger had five wins in the circle to lead the Aggies.

The edge in faceoffs helped Stevens gain a 53-34 edge in ground balls. Muller led the Ducks in the statistic for the second straight game, scooping up a career-high eight. Park and graduate student Owen Stempkovski each picked up five as 20 different Ducks had at least one. Michael Florig had seven ground balls to lead Delaware Valley.

Stevens went 1 for 2 on extra-man opportunities, with Sullivan's second-quarter tally coming on the powerplay. The Ducks killed off six of their seven penalties with George Evanick's first-quarter tally coming on the man-advantage. The Ducks netted a second special teams goal, with Ryan beating Murphy for a short-handed goal in the opening quarter. 

The Ducks were splendid on the clear, finding success on 24 of their 25 attempts, with the lone turnover coming late in the fourth quarter. Delaware Valley couldn't find similar success and finished just 19 for 28, including 6 of 11 in the first half. 

Up Next: Men's Lacrosse heads to Dallas, Pennsylvania for a MAC Freedom matchup at Misericordia. Stevens has won both prior meetings between the programs, including a 24-7 victory in the 2021 MAC Freedom title game.

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