Annville, Pa. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team won Attackman, Defenseman, Midfielder, Specialist, Goalie, (Co-)Rookie, and Coach of the Year, as announced by the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom on Thursday with the reveal of the league's All-Conference teams.

Matthew Pergola (attackman), Luke Lesizza (defenseman), Adam DeCristofaro (midfielder), Will Giarrusso (specialist), Michael Jannotte (co-Rookie, Goalie), and Gene Peluso (Coach) were the major award winners, with the non-Peluso five comprising half of the team's 10-man contingent on the All-Conference First Team.
Jack Tenaglia (attack), Jackson Penn (midfield), John Flynn (defense), Tynan Murray (long pole midfield), and Bastian Chorazykiewicz (faceoff specialist) rounded out the First Team selections. Additionally, attackman Will Labartino and midfielder Chris Ciccarello were named to the Second Team.

The conference announcement comes less than a week after Stevens won its sixth straight MAC Freedom Tournament Championship, following a 28-3 win over Lebanon Valley in the semifinals last Wednesday and a 20-10 win over Arcadia in the championship on Saturday.

Pergola becomes the first player in conference history to win a major 'Of the Year' Award four times and Lesizza becomes the second to win one three times  -- Pergola being the first last year (Major conference awards date back to 1968).

Pergola's distinguished career culminated this season with the Nutley, N.J. native setting the program's career record for goals and points, while simultaneously handing out a career-high 36 assists even before the MAC Freedom Tournament. Pergola's regular-season efforts included eight 3-goal games, three 5-goal games, and four 7-point games, tying with Tenaglia for the lead in points per game in conference play at an even 6.00.

Lesizza, like Pergola, established his place in program history, setting the career caused turnovers record at the start of the season, then finished with his third 40+ CT season, averaging more than 2.5 per game prior to the MAC Freedom Tournament, a career-best (The Fairfield, Conn. native later added 9 CT in the conference championship game, his second game this season with nine). In addition to his CT prowess, Lesizza also recorded his fourth straight season with at least 40 ground balls.

After scoring 14 goals over his final nine games last year, DeCristofaro started this season with seven straight multi-goal games, finishing the regular season with eight 3+ goal games, entering the conference tournament third on the team in goals.

Giarrusso put together a well-balanced season in multiple facets of the game, winning 47 of 82 faceoffs (16 of 24 in MAC Freedom action), grabbing 60 ground balls (18 in conference games), while dishing out four of his seven assists in MACF competition. Giarrusso also had six ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers against No. 1 Tufts.

Jannotte made his impact felt from the first game of the season, when he made 18 saves in a Top 10 win over Dickinson, 9-8, then followed that up two games later with 13 saves in a 15-5 win over Oneonta. Leading up to the MAC Freedom Tournament, his 7.59 goals-against average and .610 save percentage were both tops among MACF goalies, and his 3.71 goals-against in conference play made him the only non-Stevens goalie with more than 100 minutes played with a GAA under 8.50.

For Peluso, the Coach of the Year honor follows a sixth straight unbeaten MAC Freedom campaign, matching his string of COY Awards. This season, Peluso guided the Ducks to 10 straight wins to end the regular season, including a run through conference play in which the Ducks scored at least 18 goals and won every game by at least 13.

After notching just seven goals and 10 assists all of last season, Tenaglia had six goals in the second game of the season and reached 10 assists before the start of conference play. Once the Ducks got to conference play, Tenaglia raised his game even more, setting a single-game program record with 11 assists in Lebanon Valley, helping him finish the season with one assist per game more in conference play than anyone in the MAC Freedom AND MAC Commonwealth.

Now a three-time First Team selection, Penn scored 21 times and handed out nine assists in 16 regular season games after totaling 14 goals and 13 assists in his first 40 games entering the year, including a hat trick in the season-opening win over Dickinson. As the team's tertiary faceoff man, he won 46 of 72 at the X, including 23 of 30 in MAC Freedom play.

Flynn started all but one game this year after starting just one game last season. The sophomore finished the regular season with 35 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers, including but not limited to a 3-GB, 6-CT effort against Haverford, a 4-GB, 2-CT outing against Lebanon Valley, and a 2-GB, 4-CT appearance against DeSales.

Murray started 15 of 17 games leading up to the MAC Freedom Tournament, totaling 44 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers, finishing four games with at least two of each. He posted back-to-back 3-GB, 2-CT efforts against Union, then Wesleyan, adding a 5-GB, 3-CT game against Eastern, and a 6-GB outing against DeSales. He also scored against both Misericordia and DeSales & handed out assists against King's and Arcadia.

Chorazykiewicz won just under 70 percent of his faceoffs during the regular season, including an astounding 89.2 percent in conference play, winning at least 90 percent in four games (Penn was the only other player to win more than 72 percent during MAC Freedom action). Chorazykiewicz's eight ground balls per game in MAC Freedom play ranked third in the conference.

Labartino finished the regular season second on the team in goals and second in MAC Freedom play in goals per game, averaging 3.29 per contest. Labartino capped the regular season with back-to-back five-goal games against Delaware Valley and DeSales (scoring on all five shot attempts against Delaware Valley), two of his four 5-goal games during the season.

Within a crowded attack unit, Ciccarello made the most of his opportunities, totaling 27 goals and 10 assists leading up to the MAC Freedom Tournament, including 14 and 7 in MAC Freedom play. His conference outings included five goals against Misericordia, two goals and two assists against DeSales, and a trio of three-point efforts against FDU-Florham, Lebanon Valley, and Arcadia.

Up Next
The Ducks bring their 12-game winning streak to the campus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine this weekend for the NCAA Championships. The Ducks will face Amherst College in a second-round matchup on Saturday at 3:00 PM, with the winners facing the host Polar Bears in the third round on Sunday.

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