CENTER VALLEY, Pa. (April 17, 2024) – Senior Jack Savarese continued his march towards 200 goals with five goals as No. 13 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse outscored DeSales University 8-3 over the final 30 minutes en route to a 15-7 victory Wednesday night in a MAC Freedom contest on the Bulldogs' Turf Field.

Junior Mikey Whiteside had two goals and an assist and sophomore Matthew Pergola and senior Joseph Grippo each finished with three points for the Ducks, who won their fifth straight in moving to 12-2 on the year and a perfect 4-0 in the MAC Freedom. The eight-goal victory extended the Ducks' streak of consecutive regular season conference victories to 43, dating back to the 2017 season.

Colin Adams and Nate Perry each had two goals and an assist for DeSales, who fell to 7-6 on the year and to 3-1 in league play. Stevens' victory snapped the Bulldogs' winning streak at three. Stevens has won all seven meetings in the all-time series. 

Graduate student Kevin Holtby made nine saves to earn his 12th victory. T.J. Lowe made 21 saves for DeSales in a losing effort. 

Savarese, who also added an assist, scored twice in the first half before adding three more in the second, to bring his career total to 196. The Wilton, Connecticut native moved to within four of 200 and to within 13 of matching the program's all-time goal-scoring record. Over the junior attackman's five markers Wednesday, two game on the man-advantage to bring his career total to 26.

Holding a three-goal lead midway through the third quarter after the Bulldogs' Jake Fratarcangeli netted his 10th of the season, Stevens scored the next six goals to break the game open. Savarese opened the game-changing sequence with his third of the night to complete his seventh hat trick of the season. Savarese would score the first goal of the final period just 13 seconds into the frame. Senior Keegan Hughes found the back of the net on the Ducks' next possession to push the lead to six. A pair of markers from Grippo sandwiched Savarese's final goal of the night to close the sequence. Over the course of the 10-minute sequence that bridged the third and fourth quarters, the Ducks turned an 8-5 lead into a 14-5 advantage.

The Rundown

• DeSales opened scoring first, with Perry beating Holtby two minutes into the game. 
• Stevens would respond with two goals exactly nine seconds apart. Graduate student Sam DiChristina started the sequence with his third goal of the year. First-year Jackson Penn won the ensuing face, which put the Ducks in transition and Pergola fed Grippo for his first of the night.
• Adams scored the equalizer before consecutive goals from Adams and Pergola sent the teams into the second quarter tied at three.
• Savarese put Stevens in front for good with the first of his two power-play goals of the evening as Stevens took advantage of a slashing penalty. Whiteside netted back-to-back goals three minutes apart before another special teams goal by Savarese pushed the lead to four.
• Hughes scored his first of the evening to open second-half scoring before Fratarcangeli's goal drew DeSales back to within three, setting the stage for the Ducks' run.
• Pat Schuett and Adams scored 37 seconds apart to put a halt to the Ducks' scoring run before Pergola scored in the final minute to provide the final margin of victory. 

Top Performers

• Graduate student Chris Kirschner dished out a pair of assists for his fifth multi-assist performance of the season. 
• Penn, first-year Luke Cifuentes, sophomores Mac Waynick and Will Giarrusso joined junior Nicolas Accardo in dishing out one assist to round out the Ducks' offensive contributions.
• Sophomore Luke Lesizza continued his outstanding play in the defensive third, causing five turnovers and picking up a career-high seven ground balls.
• Penn finished 11-7 in the faceoff circle and also matched Lesizza with seven ground balls. Giarrusso added three wins at the 'X' to help Stevens gain a 14-12 advantage on the evening. 
• The Ducks killed off all five of their penalties, while also going 2 for 4 on the man-advantage.
• Stevens went 28 for 31 on clears, including a perfect 16 for 16 in the second half. 

For the Opponents

• Anthony Gash went 12 and 12 on faceoffs and picked up a game-high 10 ground balls. The 10 ground balls helped DeSales to a 38-37 edge in the statistic. 

Around the MAC Freedom 

• Lebanon Valley 21, Delaware Valley 6 (F/Apr. 14)
• Arcadia 14, Delaware Valley 2
• King's 18, FDU-Florham 7
• Misericordia 13, Lebanon Valley 9

Coach's Comments

• "I was happy the way our guys grinded out the win tonight. I thought Desales did a great job coming out early and matching our play, but I thought our guys did a really good job of controlling the pace from the second quarter on. I thought it was a well-fought fight by our group and I'm happy to get the win."
• "Our pace setter was really the defensive play of Luke Lesizza, Sam DiChristina, Jackson Nieman, Nicolas Accardo, Mac Waynick and Bryan Creamer."
• "I thought we got some balanced scoring throughout the game, but Jack Savarese really stood out and made the most out of his opportunities. Our focus now becomes a strong Arcadia team that we'll face on the road."

Up Next

• No. 13 Stevens continues conference play on Saturday, April 20, heading to Glenside, Pennsylvania to take on Arcadia. The Ducks have won all seven meetings between the programs. Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

Athletic Department Social Media
Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics         
X (Formerly Twitter): @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks

Men's Lacrosse Social Media
Facebook: "Like" Stevens Men's Lacrosse
X (Formerly Twitter): @LacrosseStevens
Instagram: @stevensmenslax

#AllRise