AMHERST, Mass. – One week after reeling off seven straight in a season-opening win, the Stevens Institute of Technology scored six unanswered goals between the second and third quarters in a 13-7 victory over Springfield Sunday afternoon.

Tommy Robertozzi finished with a game-high four goals, Matthew Pergola joined him in the four-point club with two goals and two assists, and the trio of Shea Grant, Connor Gabilanes, and Joseph Grippo all finished with three points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Stevens (2-0) attack was relentless early on, forcing Springfield goalkeeper Kaden Quirk to make four saves in the first 2:09. The Pride struck first just past six minutes gone in the quarter, but Grant fed Robertozzi for the tying goal less than 45 seconds later, Robertozzi notching his fourth goal of the year.

After two more shots on target were turned away by Quirk, Grippo recorded his sixth assist of the young season, finding Connor Gabilanes who put home his second goal of the year.

With 15 seconds left in the quarter and the Ducks on defense, Luke Lesizza forced a turnover, scooped the ground ball, and initiated a last-second rush that Nicolas Accardo capped with his first goal of the season for a 3-1 Ducks' lead.

Springfield trimmed the lead to one at the start of the second quarter, but Pergola and Grant each picked up two points in less than two minutes as the Ducks built a 6-2 lead. First, it was Grant scoring his first goal of the day off a Pergola assist; then, after Pergola added his fourth goal of the season, unassisted, Grant scored his third goal of the year off a feed from Gabilanes. Stevens carried that four-goal cushion to the locker room.

Thanks to a Springfield penalty in the final seconds of the first half, Stevens started the second half with possession and took full advantage of the man-up opportunity as Gabilanes made it 7-2 just 18 seconds in, Finlay Macknight picking up the assist.

After Aidan Long picked up the ground ball on the ensuing faceoff, Grippo made it 8-2 with 13:58 left in the quarter. Robertozzi made it six straight goals for the Ducks with his second of the day at the 11:33 mark.

The Pride got two goals back, working the margin back to 9-4, but Ford Carney made it 10-4 in the final minute of the quarter with his first goal of the year.

Springfield made one final bid at a comeback in the fourth, scoring the first three of the quarter, halving the Stevens' lead to 10-7, but Pergola and Robertozzi (twice) put the game on ice, scoring the game's final three goals over the last four minutes.

FROM THE FIELD – (Head Coach Gene Peluso)

• "It was a gritty hard fought win today for us. I thought our SSDM Bryan Creamer, Ford Carney, Nick Accardo did a great job on both ends of the field. Thomas Robertozzi had a great shooting day with four goals and Shea Grant really let us at the Midfield today. Springfield is always very well coached and their face off unit and their goalie played really well. It's nice to get a road win against a tough opponent. Now we get ready for two away games in the next six days."

Inside the Box Score

• Robertozzi recorded his second hat trick in as many games after failing to reach the mark in his first 35 games as a Duck.
• Pergola has seven goals and four assists in three games against Springfield dating back to 2023.
• Lesizza finished with a game-high six ground balls, adding a pair of caused turnovers.
• First-year Bastian Chorazykiewicz made his inaugural appearance as a Duck, winning both of his faceoff attempts.
• Goalkeeper Cooper Foote recorded 12 saves, raising his career save percentage to 56.5 percent and lowering his career goals-against average to 7.69.

Up Next: The Ducks head to Throggs Neck, N.Y. Wednesday, February 26, for a 7:00 affair with Skyline Conference power SUNY Maritime, against whom the Red and Gray are 9-0 all-time, including a 16-8 win in the NCAA Championships in 2022.

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