HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 24, 2024) – Sophomore Miles du Bois had a career-nine points as No. 14 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse clinched its third straight MAC Freedom regular season title, and home field advantage throughout the playoffs, with a 25-2 victory over Delaware Valley Wednesday night in a league contest at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

First-year Tyler Holland also had a career performance with four goals and three assists, and junior Connor Gabilanes finished with two goals and two assists for the Ducks, who won their seventh straight in moving to 14-2 on the year and a perfect 6-0 in the MAC Freedom. Eighteen different players finished with at least one point in the lopsided victory that extended the Ducks' streak of consecutive regular season conference victories to 45, dating back to the 2017 season. With the victory, Stevens ensured thst the road to the NCAA Tournament will go again go through Hoboken.

Kieran Schneider had both Delaware Valley goals as the Aggies fell to 5-11 on the year and 1-5 in the MAC Freedom. Delaware Valley has dropped five of its last six contests, while also falling to 0-4 all-time against Stevens.

Graduate student Kevin Holtby made one save to earn the victory. Juniors Cooper Foote and Quinton Smith each stopped a pair of shots, while senior Jake Zeyher made one. First-year Spencer Lee played a scoreless final 12 minutes without facing a shot, as all five netminders saw time between the pipes. Jim Murphy made 25 saves for Delaware Valley in a losing effort. 

Entering the night with a pair of goals and two assists, du Bois broke through with four goals and five assists, scoring four times on just five shots. The Ridgewood, New Jersey native scored once in the second and three times in the third. All of the second-year attackman's five assists came in the second half and du Bois had the helper on three of the Ducks' final seven goals. 

Holland, meanwhile, poured in four goals across the final 30 minutes, including one on the man-advantage. He also had two fourth quarter assists including a nifty pass to first-year Matthew Kirschner on the Ducks' final goal of the evening.

Facing an impressive sunset, it was the Ducks' defense and special teams that quickly put an end to Delaware Valley's night. Stevens forced 14 turnovers in the opening quarter, including six on the clear. The smothering defensive effort allowed the Ducks to race out into transition and produced a 19-5 margin in shots – a trend that held true throughout the contest. Stevens forced Delaware Valley into 39 turnovers on the evening – the most by a Duck opponent this season. The Aggies found success on less than 50% of their clearing attempts (18 for 37), while Stevens went a perfect 24-24. 

Stevens also controlled play in the faceoff circle, going 23-7 on the night. Senior Conner Park went 9 for 10 in the circle to lead the efforts, while first-year Jackson Penn and sophomore Will Giarrusso each won seven times. 

The Rundown

• Stevens wasted little time getting on the board, with junior Nicolas Accardo finding the back of the net just 64 seconds into the game.
• Stevens scored six times over the first eight minutes, including consecutive goals from sophomore May Waynick and junior Danny D'Angelo, marking the first goal of the season for each respective Duck. 
• Schneider found the back of the net with 7:06 remaining in the opening quarter to slow down the Stevens offense, but Stevens responded with 10 unanswered goals across the next two quarters to open a 16-1 lead.
• Schneider netted his second of the game late in the third quarter, but the Ducks scored the final nine goals of the game to produce the final margin of victory.

Top Performers

• Sophomore Matthew Pergola netted his eighth hat trick of the season. The Nutley, New Jersey native finished with four points. 
• Senior Joseph Grippo was the other Duck with a multi-goal night, finishing with two goals and an assist.
• Sophomore Luke Lesizza produced his first career multi-point outing, totaling a goal and an assist. The Fairfield, Connecticut native also picked up two ground balls.
• The defensive efforts and the efforts in the circle helped Stevens gain a 60-20 edge in ground balls. Penn and Giarrusso each picked up seven ground balls to pace Stevens.
• Five different players each registered two caused turnovers: Foote, juniors Bryan Creamer and Larson Cronk and first-years Aidan Long and Luke Cifuentes.
• Junior Jack Curry dished out his first assist of the season. 

For the Opponents

• Frederick Offenburge had all seven of Delaware Valley's victories in the faceoff circle. 
• Offenburge and Ashton Benkwitt each picked up a team-high four ground balls. 
• Luke Kelchner recorded two caused turnovers.

Around the MAC Freedom 

• Lebanon Valley 22, FDU-Florham 7
• DeSales 10, Misericordia 6
• Arcadia 19, King's 2

Coach's Comments

• "We gave a handful of guys game balls for their performance tonight: Conner Park being 90% at the faceoff X was acknowledged with a game ball; Larson Cronk having three ground balls and a couple of caused turnovers did a great job in the middle of the field; Matthew Kirschner with a goal and an assist and really played fast for us in the second half."
• "We loved the game we got out of Tyler Holland with four goals, three assists, and picking up ground balls. Connor Gabilanes did a really nice job with two goals and two assists and playing fast in the second half."
• "The ultimate game award went to Miles du Bois with four goals and five assists. Miles went in in the second quarter and really just took over the game. I'm really proud of the job that Miles and the rest of the guys did over the final three quarters."
• "It's a good win and clinching the home field for the MAC Freedom playoffs is great."
• "Now we focus on a very well coached Lebanon Valley team, who has a talented group. We are also looking forward to celebrating 16 seniors and grad students Saturday before the game."

Up Next

• No. 14 Stevens closes out the regular season on Saturday, Apr. 27, when the Ducks host Lebanon Valley at the DeBaun Athletic Complex in the first-ever meeting between the programs. Prior to the contest, the Ducks will honor their Class of 2024 in a pregame ceremony that will begin at 12:25 p.m. Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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