THROGGS NECK, N.Y. (March 1, 2023) – Junior Jack Savarese had five goals and two assists to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team to a 22-12 victory over Maritime College Wednesday evening in a non-conference contest at Reinhart Field. 

Graduate student Kevin Crowley had three goals and three assists and first-year Matthew Pergola finished with four goals and an assist for the Ducks, who won their third straight to improve to 4-1. 

Connor Tomich had five goals and two assists to lead Maritime, who dropped to 1-2. Stevens has won all eight meetings between the teams since 2000 and the contest was a rematch of last season's NCAA opening-round game.

Junior Keegan Hughes finished with two goals and two assists and graduate student Carter Haskel finished with three assists for the Ducks as 13 different players finished with at least one point. First-year Joe Leone had a goal with two assists and senior Jake Wright had two goals for his second multi-goal of the season. Sophomore Bryan Creamer netted his first goal of the season, with senior Trevor Carroll, graduate student Henry Johnson, sophomore Thomas Sabatino and first-year Daniel Garvey also finding the back of the net to round out the Ducks' goal scorers. Senior Joseph Cawley handed out his third career assist to complete the Ducks' offensive contributions. 

Graduate student Ryan Leahy drew the start and made four saves to earn the victory. Junior Jake Zeyher relieved Leahy midway through the fourth quarter and totaled one save. Ben McGrady stopped 12 shots in defeat for Maritime. Michael Monahan made three saves in the fourth quarter in relief of McGrady.

Hughes put the Ducks on the board early in the first quarter as Stevens scored on its first possession. A pair of Tomich goals sandwiched Pergola's first of the game as the teams were tied at two midway through the opening quarter. Savarese's first goal of the evening put the Ducks up for good. The Wilton, Connecticut native added another goal two minutes later to give the Ducks a 4-2 advantage. Tomich completed his hat trick to cut into the Ducks' advantage, but Leone capped a long offensive-zone possession in the final minute with his fourth of the year to send the teams into the second quarter with Stevens holding a 5-3 lead. 

Savarese, Pergola and Crowley each scored in the second quarter as the Ducks built a 9-4 edge at halftime. Stevens outscored Maritime 4-1 in the second period, with Leahy making a pair of saves to preserve the lead.

Brian Drost opened third-quarter scoring but the teams alternated two-goal stretches, with Wright finding the back of the net with 23 seconds left in the period to hand the Ducks a 14-8 lead. 

It was Wright again finding the back of the net to start the fourth quarter and the Ducks put the game out of reach with a pair of three-goal runs. Garvey scored in the final minute to provide the final margin of victory. Interestingly, the Ducks scored in the final minute in three of the fourth quarters, with Pergola's final goal of the second quarter coming with 62 seconds left in the frame.

The Ducks fired off at least 14 shots in each quarter to total 63 for the game. Over half (37) of the team's shots were on-target. Stevens held Maritime to single-digit shots in each quarter for a game total of 24.

The Ducks finished 17 for 22 on clears, including a perfect 4 for 4 in the final quarter. Conversely, Maritime was only successful on 50% (13 of 26) of its clear attempts. The Ducks caused 13 of Maritime's 30 turnovers, with Cawley leading the efforts with an impressive seven caused turnovers, which marks the most by a Duck in at least the last 10 years and are tied for the second-most by a Division III player this season. 

Sophomore Andrew Muller had a strong game in the faceoff circle, winning a career-high 23 times in the 'X.' Junior Conner Park won two faceoffs and sophomore Nicolas Accardo won once as the Ducks captured 26 of the game's 37 faceoffs. The edge in the circle certainly contributed to the Ducks gaining a 58-34 edge in ground balls. Accardo led the team with seven ground balls, while Cawley had six. Matthew Weigand had nine to pace Maritime. 

The Ducks went 2 for 3 on the man advantage with Savarese and Crowley each scoring on the power play, while Maritime went 1 for 2. 

Up Next: Men's Lacrosse heads to upstate New York on Mar. 5 to take on Oneonta. The contest was originally scheduled for Mar. 4, but was moved back a day due to the projected weather forecast. Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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