ONEONTA, N.Y. (March 6, 2023) – Graduate student Kevin Crowley and junior Keegan Hughes each totaled four points as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse defeated SUNY Oneonta 10-5 Monday in a non-conference contest at Red Dragon Field. 

Crowley and Hughes each scored three times, while also dishing out on assist, as the Ducks won their fourth straight to improve to 5-1. 

"It was good to get a win against a very scrappy Oneonta team!" head coach Gene Peluso commented. "It was a challenging day as we left very early in the morning and drove a long way to play this rescheduled game with a 3 p.m. start."

Jamie O'Neil and Owen Vail each scored twice for the hosting Red Dragons, who suffered their second straight defeat in falling to 1-2. The Ducks have won both all-time meetings between the programs, holding Oneonta to five goals in each contest.

Senior Jake Wright finished with a goal and two assists and senior Trevor Carroll handed out one assist for the Ducks, who have held their opponent to single digits in four of their five victories. First-year Matthew Pergola joined junior Jack Savarese and sophomore Jake Connelly in scoring once to round out the Ducks' offensive contributions.

Graduate student Ryan Leahy made 10 saves to earn the victory in the cage. Harrison Boukas had an impressive 23 saves in defeat for Oneonta.

"I think the Oneonta goalie played very well and turned away a lot of our early shots," Peluso shared. "I did like how our guys stayed the course on defense and grinded out a nice defensive effort. We recognized Joe Cawley and Luke Lesizza for their efforts today!"

In a low-scoring affair, the Ducks held Oneonta to a single goal in the second half to secure the victory. Holding a 6-4 lead at halftime, Hughes opened second-half scoring by beating Boukas to complete his second hat trick of the season. Sophomore Andrew Muller won the ensuing faceoff, with sophomore Bryan Creamer winning the ground ball, leading directly to Connelly's second marker of the season as the Ducks scored twice in a 42-second span.

The Ducks held Oneonta off the board in the third, conceding just six shots. Leahy stopped all three of the Red Dragon shots that were on target. Carroll fed Crowley for the Fort Lauderdale, Florida native's 15th goal of the season as the Ducks swelled their lead to five. Each side scored once in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin of victory.

The teams traded goals in the opening quarter before Crowley had the final tally in the first quarter and Hughes had the first marker of the second quarter to put the Ducks up 4-2. Vail found the back of the net for Oneonta's third goal, but Savarese scored on the man-advantage and Pergola followed with his lone goal of the game to push the lead to three. 

The Ducks fired off at least 12 shots in each quarter to total 53 for the game. Over half (33) of the team's shots were on-target. After having 10 in the first quarter, Oneonta's offense was kept in check as the team only had 15 shots over the remainder of the game. 

Stevens was nearly perfect on clears, finding success on 23 of 25 attempts. On the opposite end of the field, Oneonta was 17 of 25.

The Ducks caused 17 of Oneonta's 22 turnovers. Senior Joseph Cawley helped key the efforts, registering five caused turnovers and the Syosset, New York native has 12 over his last two games. First-year Luke Lesizza totaled four caused turnovers and has eight over his last two games. 

Muller had eight faceoff wins to lead Stevens, while Creamer had one. Stephen Sommo won seven times in the 'X' to pace Oneonta. Creamer also paced the Ducks with five ground balls.

The Ducks went 1 for 6 on the man advantage with Savarese's power-play goal in the second quarter accounting for the Ducks' power-play production. Oneonta was scoreless in four extra-man opportunities. 

"Our focus is now on Wesleyan," Peluso said. "They are very well coached and have an excellent program. We are looking forward to being at home for only the second time in seven games."

Up Next: Men's Lacrosse hosts No. 12 Wesleyan on Mar. 11 at the DeBaun Athletic Complex. The Cardinals topped the Ducks last season in Connecticut in the first-ever meeting between the teams. Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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