HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 27, 2024) - Senior Jack Savarese eclipsed 250 career points as the No. 13/15 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team defeated Eastern 22-7 in a non-conference contest Wednesday night at the DeBaun Athletic Center.

Savarese becomes the first Duck to hit 250 career points since Ryan Gebhardt '21 did so back in 2021. Gebhardt totaled 272 career points. Max Bailey '19 holds the program's career points record with 303. Savarese currently ranks 17th among active players for career points across all NCAA Divisions. He sits ninth among all active Division III players. Eastern's Christopher Fanelli ranks sixth and third respectively. The Ducks finish the non-conference portion of their schedule 8-2 and slide back into the win column, winning eight of their last nine. By scoring 22 tonight, Stevens matched its season-high goal tally. The Ducks are now 3-0 all-time against Eastern. This was the first time in the three-game series that ended in a double-digit scoring margin. The Eagles fell to 3-6 with the loss.

"Happy for Jack Savarese for scoring his 250th career point early in the game," Peluso said. "Love the game we got out of Thomas Sabatino and Joseph Grippo."

It was a quick start for the Ducks, who jumped on the Eagles right away. Sophomore Matthew Pergola scored a minute and a half into the first on an assist from Savarese. With 11:14 on the clock, Pergola tacked on his second of the game, with senior Joseph Grippo assisting on this goal. The Ducks ended up scoring the first four of the game, as Grippo and junior Shea Grant added the other two. With 6:36 on the clock, Eastern scored their first of the game. Stevens would end up scoring the next two, as Grippo scored his second on an assist from junior Tommy Robertozzi with 5:01 on the clock, while Savarese scored the goal that gave him 250 points at the 3:41 mark of the first. The Eagles would add one more before the end of the quarter as the Ducks led 6-2. Eastern would then go on to score the first goal of the third, getting within three of the Ducks. The two teams would go scoreless for the next 11 minutes, until junior Mikey Whiteside broke the drought by scoring his 15th of the year. Junior Thomas Sabatino would score 31 seconds later, as Stevens maintained an 8-3 lead at the half.

Stevens more than doubled their goal tally in the third. Savarese scored just 37 seconds into the second half on an assist from Whiteside as the Ducks quickly took momentum. Senior Keegan Hughes picked up his first tally of the game at the 13:45 mark to give Stevens an 10-3 advantage. Eastern would respond by picking up the next goal, but Stevens answered the Eagles with a man-up goal from Savarese to put the Ducks back up seven. The Ducks quickly added two more, as graduate student Dominick Visintin and Savarese found the back of the net. From there, Grippo would go on a personal 3-0 run that gave the home side a 16-4 advantage. Savarese and Robertozzi picked up assists on the second and third goal, respectively. Pergola would score one more before the end of the frame, while Eastern added another, as the Ducks led 17-5 heading into the fourth. The lead would be too much for Eastern to overcome, as they could not crawl back into the game in the fourth. Sophomore Joe Leone scored an unassisted goal at the 10:34 mark, while Savarese tallied another just 40 seconds later. Junior Connor Gabilanes scored his second of the season with 9:02 remaining as the Ducks went up 20-5. First-years Thomas Holland and Matthew Kirschner scored for Stevens down the stretch, as the Ducks held on for the victory.

"Great to see Matt Kirschner score his first career goal," Peluso added. "Thought our defense played well, led by Luke Lesizza and Kevin Holtby in the cage."

Top Performers

• Savarese led the Ducks with eight points, scoring five times and adding three assists.
• Grippo also scored five times and added an assist.
• Pergola recorded a hat trick.
• Sabatino scored once and tallied three assists.
• Matthew Kirschner's goal was the first of his career.
• 14 Ducks recorded a point in the game.
• Sophomore Luke Lesizza caused five turnovers.
• Sophomore Will Giarusso and junior Bryan Creamer each picked up seven ground balls.
• Graduate student Kevin Holtby (8-2) made 13 saves in 50 minutes of action. Junior Cooper Foote played nine minutes and made one save.

The Opponent

• Gavin Stark had three goals and one assist.
• Christopher Fanelli picked up two goals and a helper.
• Six Eagles caused one turnover.
• Benjamin Souder picked up four ground balls.
• Ethan Meyers (3-6) made seven saves.

• Saint Vincent 11, Lebanon Valley 10 F/SAT
• Misericordia 8,. Stockton 13 F/SAT
• Widener 8, Arcadia 11 F/SAT
• FDU-Florham 6, Neumann 15 F/SUN
• DePauw 11, Delaware Valley 5
• Albertus Magnus 7, FDU-Florham 21
• Stockton 10, Arcadia 17
• Ithaca 13, Misericordia 6
• Hood 13, King's 11
• DeSales 6, Cabrini 15

Up Next: Men's Lacrosse is not in action again until April 6, when they begin MAC Freedom play on the road at Misericordia. The game is set for 1 p.m. The Ducks are 6-0 all-time against the Cougars, winning each matchup by at least eight goals. Links for live stats and video are posted to stevensducks.com