WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (April 10, 2024) - Sophomore Matthew Pergola eclipsed 100 career goals as the No. 14/13 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team defeated King's 26-4 in a MAC Freedom contest Wednesday night.

The Ducks (10-2, 2-0 MAC Freedom) have now won three-straight games. The 26 goals in the game were the most for the Ducks in a contest this season. Stevens put 25 past King's last season. The Ducks are now 4-0 all-time against King's, winning each game by at least 21 goals. The Monarchs fell to 1-8 and 0-2 in MAC Freedom play with the loss.

"It was a great win by all of our guys tonight", head coach Gene Peluso said. "I was really impressed with the guys that got chances to shine. I thought Matthew Pergola and Joseph Grippo were efficient in the first quarter when they had their looks. Obviously, we're very proud of Matt for scoring his hundredth career goal tonight. That is an awesome feat for a sophomore."

Stevens jumped on King's from the start as they scored three goals in the first two minutes. Senior Jack Savarese scored the first on an assist from Pergola, while Pergola scored the second on a feed from sophomore Will Giarrusso. Savarese and Giarrusso would link up for the third. Savarese would then make it a hat trick with 7:58 left in the first. King's was then able to score their first of the game, but the Ducks closed the quarter with a barrage of goals, netting five before the horn sounded. Pergola scored two of them while senior Joseph Grippo scored the final three. The Ducks led 9-1 after one. Stevens would continue to put it on the Monarchs to start the second, as junior Nicolas Accardo, Pergola, Grippo, and first-year Tyler Holland each scored inside the first three minutes. With 10:54 to go, first-year Connor Moore scored his first career goal as the Ducks went up 14-1. Junior Tommy Robertozzi would then add one on an assist from graduate student Dominick Visintin. King's would add their second with just over five minutes left in the quarter, but the Ducks closed with the final three, as first-year Matthew Kirschner, graduate student Brendan Laundry, and sophomore Miles du Bois each scored as the Ducks led 18-2 at the half.

Already up big, junior Thomas Sabatino kicked off the third quarter with a man-up goal to give Stevens a 17 goal advantage with over 28 minutes to go. Junior Jake Connelly would score a few minutes later. With 8:39 to go, Holland tallied his second of the game with the team a man-down. Laundry would then add his second 50 seconds later as the Ducks led 22-2. King's would add a third with 5:34 to go, but Giarrusso answered six seconds later. Moore would score one more for the Ducks down the stretch, while King's added another. As Stevens went up 24-4 with one quarter to go. Stevens would tack on just two in the final from, with one coming from Matthew Kirschner and the other from junior Connor Gabilanes, as the Ducks secured the massive victory.

"It was nice to get multiple goals from Savarese, Brendan Laundry, Tyler Holland and Matthew Kirschner", Peluso added.

Peluso also said, "We recognized three defenders and a long-stick midfielder tonight with game balls. The three defenders have played in a total of five games and haven't been scored on in their time on the field. Today for 30 minutes they played and did not get scored on as a group. Those three are Luke Field, Nickel Drexler-Bruce, and Patrick Peluso. Long-stick play was great today and we thought Noah Spencer played really well,  picking up some key, ground balls and helping us get into the clear."

Top Performers

• Pergola scored four goals and had two assists.
• Grippo also scored four times and added an assist.
• Savarese recorded three goals and a helper.
• Holland had a career-high two goals and two assists.
• Moore scored his first two career goals.
• 19 Ducks recorded a point in the game.
• First-year Noah Spencer caused a career-high two turnovers.
• Giarusso and first-year Jackson Penn each picked up nine ground balls.
• Graduate student Kevin Holtby (10-2) made two saves. All five goalies saw action in the contest.

The Opponent

• Ben Spencer scored three goals.
• Ryan Barnes had two assists.
• Ryan Dolphin caused three turnovers.
• Dolphin also picked up five ground balls.
• Jackson Campbell (1-8) made 11 saves.

Around the MAC Freedom

• DeSales 11, FDU-Florham 5
• Lebanon Valley 11, Arcadia 17
• Misericordia 14, Delaware Valley 6

"I love the fact that we were able to play all the healthy players tonight and I loved how we played a respectful game against a young King's team", Peluso finished. "We are excited to prepare for an FDU team that has been playing good lacrosse lately."

Up Next: Men's Lacrosse returns home to take on FDU-Florham in MAC Freedom play on Saturday. The game is set for 11 a.m. The Ducks are 7-0 all-time against the Devils. Links for live stats and video are posted to stevensducks.com