MADISON, N.J. (February 15, 2023) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team scored eight unanswered goals in the second quarter to break open a close game en route to a 25-4 victory over Drew University Wednesday night in a non-conference contest at Ranger Stadium. 

In his collegiate debut, first-year Matthew Pergola finished with six goals and an assist and junior Jack Savarese finished with five goals and two assists to lead the Ducks, who opened the season 1-0 for the 15th time in the last 17 seasons. The Ducks' 25 goals were the most in a season opener in at least 25 years. The victory was the 295th for head coach Gene Peluso and his 166th at Stevens. Peluso ranks fifth among all active Division head coaches.

"I thought we settled in well after the first eight minutes and dialed in our shooting," head coach Gene Peluso said. "I thought our attack did a good job of moving the ball and shot the ball well."

Mike DeMayo had two goals to lead Drew, who dropped to 1-1. Tonight's meeting was the first between the programs since 2009.

Graduate student Kevin Crowley had four goals and an assist in his Stevens debut as 16 different players finished with at least one point. Sophomores Blake Creamer and Nicolas Accardo joined junior Keegan Hughes (Stevens debut) in producing a goal and an assist. First-year Joe Leone scored twice in his collegiate debut, while sophomore Tommy Robertozzi handed out two assists in his Stevens debut. First-year Daniel Garvey rounded out the multi-point performers with a goal and an assist. In his Stevens debut, sophomore Jake Connelly had a goal, while graduate student Jackson Brown, senior Jake Wright and first-year Reece Molinaro also found the back of the net to round out the goal scorers. Sophomores Jack Ramos and Bryan Creamer, along with senior Trevor Carroll, each dished out one to round out the Ducks' offensive contributions. 
 
"It was a great game to play a lot of our guys and it's always nice to see some of our players score their first career goals and assists here at Stevens," Peluso said. "I'm happy to start the season with a win, but we need to start dialing into a very tough well coached Dickinson team."

Graduate student Ryan Leahy drew the start in his Stevens debut and made 11 saves to earn the victory. Sophomore Cooper Foote and junior Jake Zeyher split the fourth quarter and combined for three saves. Matt Duarte made five saves over 30 minutes in defeat for Drew.

DeMayo scored the first goal of the game to give the hosts an early lead. However, Savarese answered 36 seconds later, scoring on the man-advantage after Jordan Wilson was whistled for tripping. Saverese's power-play goal sparked a run of three straight goals for the Ducks only to see Drew respond with a short-handed goal after Brett Spafford was whistled for pushing.

"Drew was scrappy and made us earn it early," Peluso commented. "They are well coached and play hard."

Pergola's first two collegiate goals bridged the first and second quarters to give the Ducks a 5-2 lead. DeMayo found the back for the second time, but Connelly's power-play goal sparked the game-breaking stretch that saw the Ducks net eight goals in just under 11 minutes to take a commanding 13-3 lead into the intermission. During the sequence, five different players scored at least one goal; two of the tallies were on the power play and one came short-handed.

The goal run extended into the third quarter as Stevens scored all six markers in the period to push the lead to 16. Pergola opened the scoring with his fifth of the game just 19 seconds in the period and Savere's power-play goal closed out the stretch and was the Ducks' second goal that took place with less than 15 seconds remaining in the quarter.

Blake Creamer found Brown for the first goal of the final quarter and the Ducks scored the final five goals of the period to close out the contest.

Impressively, the Ducks finished the game 4 for 9 on the man-advantage, while not allowing Drew to score on the powerplay in nine opportunities.

The Ducks finished with a dominant 62-33 edge in shots, including a 38-18 margin in shots on goal. Stevens was also successful on 17 of its 18 clears and won 17 of the game's 33 faceoffs. Junior Conner Park led the Ducks with 10 wins in the 'X,' while first-year Will Giarrusso had four in his collegiate debut. Sophomore Andrew Muller had three to cap the Ducks' efforts in the circle. G.J. Nazziola had 14 wins to pace Drew.

Lastly, Stevens forced 26 turnovers, while committing only 16. Senior defenseman Joseph Cawley was one of four Ducks to force two turnovers, where he was joined by Crowley and seniors David Bendis and Joseph DeGuida. 

Accardo scooped up a team-high six ground balls Ducks totaled 36 on the evening. Nazziola finished with a game-high seven to lead Drew, who picked up 30.

The contest also marked the collegiate debuts of first-years Luke Lesizza, Miles du Bois, Ronnie Bavagnoli, Nickel Drexler-Bruce, Zach Ravenelle, Mac Waynick, Joe Vignali, Giarrusso and Molinaro. Additionally, the game also marked the Stevens debut for sophomore Danny D'Angelo and graduate student Carter Haskel.

Up Next: Men's Lacrosse travels to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to take on No. 7 Dickinson in a rematch of last season's NCAA second-round matchup. The Red Devils have won all three meetings in the all-time series. Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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