HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 30, 2022)  – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team turned in a dominating performance in the faceoff circle, winning 31 times, en route to a 23-5 victory over Lycoming Saturday in a MAC Freedom matchup at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Senior Tyler Ryan led the offense with two goals and three assists and classmate Michael Burns finished with three goals and an assist for the Ducks, who improved to 10-7 on the year and wrapped up league play 8-0 to push the regular-season conference winning streak to 31. After winning their second straight MAC Freedom regular-season crown, the Ducks will begin their title defense Thursday at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

Dominick Massaro had two goals and an assist to lead Lycoming, who fell to 8-9 on the year and to 4-4 in league play. The Warriors, who have alternated wins and losses over their last four games, will head to Dallas, Pennsylvania on May 3 to take on Misericordia in the MAC Freedom play-in game. The Cougars defeated the Warriors 14-13 on Mar. 30.

Prior to the contest, the Ducks honored and celebrated its 15-person Class of 2022.

"Senior Day is always so special for our senior lacrosse players, their families, and our entire program," head coach Gene Peluso said. "It's always great to honor the student-athletes and show gratitude for all they've done for our program over the last four or five years."

"These seniors have achieved greatness in the classroom, on the lacrosse field and in the community," Peluso continued. "They are great teammates and players, but even better people. Their families have become part of our family and we are so grateful for that."

Graduate student Ryan Caplis scored three times and junior Jake Wright had two goals and an assist for the Ducks, who saw 20 different players finish with at least one point in a balanced offensive attack. First-year Shea Grant had his second career multi-goal game, while junior Shaun Spiegel also scored twice. Single goals from sophomore Jack Savarese, senior Henry Johnson, sophomore Mikey Whiteside, senior Will Forte, graduate student Sean Scadden, senior Will Forte, senior Matt Logan, sophomore Joseph Grippo, senior Jackson Brown and classmate Brendan Sullivan rounded out the Ducks' goal scorers. Savarese, Johnson, Whiteside and Forte joined sophomore Conner Park, first-year Blake Creamer, junior Trevor Carroll, junior Henry Murtagh and first-year Larson Cronk in recording an assist to round out the Ducks' offensive contributions. Park's first-quarter assist was his first collegiate assist.

"As for the game today, it was great to play every healthy person on our roster and it was also great to see our seniors, juniors, sophomores and first-years contribute to the victory," Peluso said. 

Sophomore Jake Zeyher drew the start and made a pair of saves in earning his eighth victory of the year. All four netminders saw time in the cage for the Ducks, with first-year Cooper Foote making one save over 17 minutes of action, while fellow first-year Justin Gold stopped a career-high seven shots. First-year Quinton Smith made two saves in the fourth quarter as the Ducks finished the day with 12. Ben Franco made 12 saves over three quarters in suffering the loss for Lycoming, while Michael Lavinio and Sean Sonnie combined for one save in the final period.

"We are excited to be hosting on Thursday evening and look forward to going out and competing to our best ability," Peluso offered. "It is playoff lacrosse, so we need to dial in and prepare for what will be tough competition." 

The Ducks built a 3-0 lead before Lycoming touched the ball and the Warriors didn't get into the attacking third unil nearly five minutes into the opening quarter. Caplis had two of the Ducks' first four goals, with tallies from Wright and Scadden sandwiched in-between. 

Stevens was able to possess the ball for lengthy stretches of time in the first quarter thanks to the efforts in the faceoff circle from Park, first-year Andrew Muller and sophomore Russell Eberding, who combined to win 30 of the game's 31 faceoffs. Muller finished the day a perfect 11 for 11, while Eberding was also perfect with eight wins in eight attempts. Park won 12 of his 13 faceoffs for his fifth game with double-digit wins in the 'X.' The Ducks' 31 faceoff wins are the most for the program in at least the last decade and are just outside the top-25 in Division III history (nine schools are tied with 35 wins).

Six players scored in the opening quarter as the Ducks built a 9-1 lead. Caplis completed his fifth hat trick of the season and Burns beat the first-quarter buzzer with his 33rd of the year with just one second left on the clock. 

Zach Anderson opened scoring in the second quarter, but the Ducks responded with three straight goals to take a 12-2 lead into halftime. 

Stevens would produce another strong offensive quarter in the third, scoring eight times on 16 shots, before tacking on three goals in the final period to close out its third straight victory. 

The Ducks' defensive efforts held Lycoming's Owen Zimmerman to just five shots. Zimmerman entered the game with a conference-leading 47 goals in 16 games. 

Stevens forced seven of the Warriors' 16 turnovers. Senior Aidan Hinphy recorded a pair of caused turnovers, while Burns, Cronk, Scadden, senior Tom Conway and junior Joe Cawley each had one. Brody Balasa had a game-high three caused turnovers to pace Lycoming.

The Ducks' decisive advantage in the faceoff circle led to a 64-31 advantage in ground balls. Muller led both teams with eight, while Park and Eberding each had six. Senior Craig Stockfeder added five as 28 different players had at least one. Balasa matched Stockfeder's total to lead Lycoming.

Whiteside's second-quarter tally was the only power-play goal of the day for the home team as the Ducks converted their only extra-man opportunity of the game. Stevens successfully killed off four penalties as Lycoming went 0 for 3 with the extra man.
 
Stevens went 25 for 27 on clears, while Lycoming converted 25 of its 30 attempts.

Up Next: Men's Lacrosse begins the quest to repeat as MAC Freedom champions on May 5, hosting the winner of the Misericordia-Lycoming play-in game at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

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