Stevens Spoils Ithaca's Senior Day with 11-3 Win; Clinch Top Seed in E8 Championship
ITHACA, N.Y. (April 28, 2012) – The nationally ranked No. 10 Stevens Institute of Technology men’s lacrosse team clinched the top seed in the Empire 8 Conference Championship with an 11-3 win over Ithaca College on Saturday afternoon for the Bombers’ Senior Day at Higgins Stadium. Stevens moves to 14-2 overall this season with a 6-1 mark in the Empire 8 and the Ducks will either play St. John Fisher College or Nazareth College in the semifinals next Wednesday.
The contest was a complete tale of two halves, as Stevens led, 6-3, after the first 30 minutes of play but then kept the Bombers off the scoreboard in the second half to come away with the clinching victory. Ithaca was shutout in the second half for the first time all season.
Stevens began the game with the first two goals from junior midfielder Rich Dupras (Hillsborough, N.J.) in the opening 5 minutes, 34 seconds of the showdown. Dupras’ first tally came unassisted while his second was handed out by junior midfielder Harrison Dorne (Morristown, N.J.).
Ithaca answered back a minute later with its lone goal of the first quarter and controlled play for the remainder of the period, outshooting the Ducks, 12-5. The Bombers then scored the first two goals of the second quarter to take their first and only lead of the game at 3-2, with 9:45 to go in the first half.
Just 11 seconds after the final Ithaca goal of the game, the Ducks began their nine-goal onslaught from 9:34 left in the second quarter until the clock hit zeros in the fourth quarter. Senior attack Alex Hofrichter (Terrance Park, Ohio) picked up the first goal of the run and one of his game-high six in the contest to knot the game up at 3 on an unassisted score.
Stevens put three more goals on the board in the second quarter, all within 1:40 of each other, to build a 6-3 halftime lead. Junior midfielder Nicolas Philippi (Mullica Hill, N.J.) tallied both of his goals on unassisted scores, while his first was of the man-up variety. Hofrichter also netted his second goal of the opening half between the two Philippi scores.
As the second half got underway, senior attack Kevin Rose (Garden City, N.Y.) staked the Ducks to a 7-3 lead with the fifth straight unassisted score for Stevens in the first 34 seconds of the third period. The final four tallies of the game for the Ducks were tallied by Hofrichter. His third and fourth goals came unassisted, while his final two were dished out by Philippi, on a man-up, and Dupras with 7:40 left in the game.
Freshman Matthew Deiner (Millstone Twp., N.J.) earned his third victory of the season in all 60 minutes in cage for the Ducks. Deiner stopped 11 shots in the win.
Senior midfielder Michael Steinhauser (Boonton Twp., N.J.) won 10 of 15 face-offs in the showdown, while Dupras and senior defender Matt Marks (Cortland, N.Y.) each scooped up five groundballs. Marks also cause three turnovers to lead Stevens.
In clear attempts, Stevens failed just once, 15-for-16, while Ithaca was 10-for-14. The Ducks also capitalized on eight man-up opportunities, scoring on four of those chances.