Hoboken, N.J. – The No. 11 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team set a program record with a 25-goal margin of victory, downing Lebanon Valley 28-3 in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom Semifinals on Wednesday at DeBaun Athletic Complex.
Top-seeded Stevens (16-2) scored at least 20 goals for the eighth straight game with all eight wins coming by at least a dozen goals. 13 players scored for the Ducks on Wednesday, with six notching hat tricks
How It Happened
The Ducks 'only' scored twice in the first 6+ minutes, with
Will Labartino striking first and
Matthew Pergola making it 2-0. From the 8:18 mark through the 00:52 mark of the first quarter, Stevens found the back of the net eight times, opening a 10-0 lead before the end of the period.
Chris Ciccarello,
Tynan Murray, Labartino,
Adam DeCristofaro,
Jack Tenaglia, Pergola (twice), and
Blake Creamer put the Ducks in double figures.
Ciccarello and Tenaglia made it 12-0 early in the second before the fourth-seeded Dutchmen finally cracked the scoreboard. Tenaglia, Ciccarello, Pergola all added another and
Joe Leone converted his first of the day ion the closing seconds of the half, sending Stevens to the locker room up 16-2, capping a first half in which the Ducks outshot the Dutchmen 45-8.
Leone bookended his goal to end the first half with his second of the day to open the third quarter, part of a 12-unanswered-goal spurt from the Ducks that extended into the fourth quarter. Tenaglia, DeCristofaro (twice), Labartino,
Connor Moore, Pergola, and Miles du bois all added on in the third, as the Ducks led 24-2 heading to the fourth, with Leone capping his hat trick and
Luigi Pantano putting Stevens up 27-2 early in the fourth.
The pace slowed over the final 10+ minutes, as the teams combined for just two goals the rest of the way,
Jackson Zarinko tacking on the final goal of the day.
Inside the Box Score
- The final stat sheet showed a 67-20 advantage in shots (46-13 in on-target attempts), a 52-15 advantage in ground balls, and a 25-9 advantage in faceoffs for the Ducks
- Pergola finished with his second 10-point game in the last eight days, scoring five times and assisting on five others
- Tenaglia notched his third six-point game in his last four outings
- DeCristofaro registered his ninth hat trick of the season, Labartino registered his eighth, Ciccarello registered his third, and Leone registered his first
- Defensively, Luke Lesizza caused a game-high four turnovers (his seventh game with at least that many this season) to go along with four ground balls
- Pantano won 13 of 19 faceoffs, grabbing a game-best eight ground balls
- Bastian Chorazykiewicz won 9-of 12 at the X and came away with five ground balls
- Michael Jannotte made eight saves, allowing just two goals, before exiting after the third quarter for Gavin Zeldin, who recorded a pair of saves in the fourth
Up Next
The Ducks will host the winner of No. 3 Arcadia and No. 2 DeSales in the MAC Freedom Championship on Saturday, start time to be determined, with the winner of that game receiving an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.
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