Stevens Routs FDU in 2015 Opener
HOBOKEN, N.J.– The Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team rolled to a 16-5 win in its 2015 season-opener Wednesday, defeating FDU-Florham by a score of 16-5 at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.
After an up-and-down opening five minutes, Stevens (1-0) rolled, getting goals from 12 different players and outshooting FDU (0-1) 55-25. The Ducks held a 38-29 margin in ground balls, winning 19-of-25 face-offs and converting 15-of-18 clears. Stevens also went 3-for-7 on its man-up chances.
Sophomore attack Tim Leahey and sophomore midfielder Connor Towne put the Ducks on top 2-0 with goals 1:13 apart, and after FDU got on the board with 7:46 left in the first quarter, the Ducks ran-off seven-straight scores to take a 9-1 lead into the locker room.
Junior midfielder Matt Ferentini and senior midfielder Michael Maroon tallied back-to-back to close the scoring in the first, with Maroon finding the net again 4:17 into the second to make it a 5-1 game as junior attack Andrew Scrutchfield registered an assist on the play.
Sophomore midfielder Nick Hammell, senior attack JP Giroux, sophomore midfielder Connor McKeon and sophomore defender Jake Krantz accounted for the rest of the Ducks' first-half scoring with McKeon notching a man-up tally and Maroon, McKeon and Giroux all pocketing assists.
FDU scored the first two goals of the second half just 1:04 apart to make it a 9-3 game with 10:36 to play in the third, but the Ducks answered with two of their own to push the lead back to eight (11-3) heading into the fourth. Giroux scored his second of the day with Scrutchfield tallying his first of the season.
The Devils opened the scoring in the fourth, but two goals from the Ducks just 30 seconds apart sealed the win, giving the hosts a 13-4 margin with 11:21 on the clock. Hammell and Ferentini each scored for the second time.
Senior attack Alex Belgard put away a nice feed from freshman attack Alex Gaydos for the first points of each player's career, and sophomore James Rudolph-Shabinsky tallied to make it 15-4 with 5:20 left.
Stevens' final marker came from the stick of freshman attack Bryan Rogers, putting away a nice pass from classmate and midfielder Chris Gaydos.
Junior Austin Boyd started in goal for the Ducks making six saves – including several beauties.
Sophomore Kevin Rafferty and freshman Alexander Kennedy each saw action late as well for Stevens with Boyd earning the win to move to 1-0 on the season.
Giroux, Scrutchfield and Maroon all had three points to lead the Stevens offense, and junior midfielder Brett Incolingo won 18-of-22 face-offs to go along with seven ground balls. Krantz had a goal and three caused turnovers, as Maroon, freshman defender Dallas Creamer, sophomore defender Jan Schoonen, Towne, Rogers, sophomore Michael Serrante, junior Jeff Wyckoff and Ferentini all had multiple ground balls with Schoonen adding a pair of caused turnovers.
Stevens will return to action Sunday when the Ducks host No. 13 Endicott at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.