St. Davids, Pa. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team returned to the win column with a 16-9 victory over Eastern University on Saturday afternoon.
 
Matthew Pergola led the Ducks (6-3) with five goals, while Christopher Fanelli scored three for Eastern (4-6).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Eagles opened the game with the first two goals, as goalkeeper Zachary Klym denied three early scoring chances from Stevens. Bryan Creamer forced a turnover at the 10:43 mark, and after a successful clear, Tommy Robertozzi put Stevens on the board off a feed from Pergola. Just 70 seconds later, Adam DeCristofaro tied the game at two. The teams traded goals midway through the period, with Joseph Grippo scoring off a Tyler Holland assist. Neither team found the back of the net for the remainder of the first quarter, with Cooper Foote making a key save with 30 seconds left.

The game remained tied at three for over half of the second quarter before Stevens broke through with a 4-0 run. Robertozzi opened the surge with a man-up goal at the 6:57 mark off an assist from Finlay MacKnight. Connor Gabilanes then extended the lead to two off a Shea Grant feed. Robertozzi completed his hat trick with a goal off a clear, assisted by Pergola, before Gabilanes capped the run with a tally from MacKnight. Eastern responded with three straight goals, cutting the deficit to 7-6. As time wound down in the half, Pergola registered an unassisted goal with 16 seconds left, sending Stevens into the break with an 8-6 lead.
 
Stevens held a narrow 25-22 edge in shots at halftime, with Foote making six saves in the opening half.
 
Eastern pulled within one at the 3:54 mark of the third quarter before Stevens seized control with a 5-0 run to close out the period. Blake Creamer netted his first two goals of the season back-to-back, pushing the lead to 10-7. Aidan Long forced a turnover late in the period, and in transition, Pergola found the net with Grippo earning the assist. Pergola capped the third-quarter surge, giving Stevens a 12-7 advantage heading into the final frame.
 
MacKnight opened the fourth-quarter scoring 5:10 into the period before Pergola and Robertozzi added goals just nine seconds apart late in the game. Pergola tallied his final goal of the afternoon with 3:45 left, while Eastern netted the last goal of the contest with 3:07 remaining to finalize the score at 16-9.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Pergola's seven points and five goals were both just one shy of his season bests.
• Blake Creamer recorded his first two goals of the season after scoring 17 over his first three years.
• Hudson Rocheville led the defense with three caused turnovers, while Dominic Piselli contributed two caused turnovers and a team-high seven ground balls.
• Will Giarrusso went 12-for-17 at the faceoff "X" and matched Piselli with seven ground balls.
• Foote made 12 saves in goal.

UP NEXT
The Ducks open Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom play on Friday night as they host Misericordia University at 7 p.m.