Bailey breaks record, Dawson nets 100th goal
Charles O'Brien
HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 28, 2018) – Junior Max Bailey become the Stevens Institute of Technology Men's Lacrosse program's all-time career leader, senior Tommy Dawson netted his 100th career goal, and the 13th ranked Ducks topped Widener University, 19-8 Wednesday in a non-conference game at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.
Bailey recorded seven assists on the evening to surpass Hall of Fame member J.R. Maehler's career mark of 107 in just two-and-a-half seasons of competition. The Millersville, Maryland native's final assist of the day came on Dawson's fourth-quarter tally that brought the Virginia Beach, Virginia to his career milestone.
"Max has been as consistent as a feeder as I have had in years," said head coach
Gene Peluso. "It's great the way he sees his teammates and finds them for goals. A true QB!"
"What can I say about Tommy," Peluso continued. "He is one of the best players, leaders and people that I have ever coached. His ability to carry the team over the years has been impressive and he does it so humbly and with pride."
Dawson came into the day needing four goals to reach the milestone. The senior attackman recorded a pair of goals in the first quarter, one in the second, and then found the back of the net with 7:51 remaining in the game on a set play draw up during a timeout.
Freshman Ryan Gebhardt had five goals and an assist, including four straight goals, as the Ducks scored eight unanswered to break open a 4-4 game. Sophomore Brendan Monteleone had two goals and an assist, freshman Nico Ipeker collected his first career hat trick, seniors Bryan Rogers and John Boutureira each had two goals, and freshmen Will Reed and Shawn Coulter each added an assist for the Ducks, who won their fifth straight to move to 8-1 on the season.
Brady Franks had three goals and an assist for Widener, who dropped their sixth straight game to fall to 1-7.
Senior defenseman Dallas Creamer picked up the second goal of his career to round out the Stevens scoring. The Farmingdale, New York native also caused six turnovers and picked up four ground balls.
"Nice win from our guys getting it done," Peluso said. "I love the amount of goals we're scoring. We do, however, have to dial in the defense a tad."
Stevens has reached double digits in scoring in eight of nine games this season. The Ducks have scored 18 or more goals on four different occasions. The team is averaging 15.67 goals per game, which is tops in the Empire 8 Conference by a five-goal margin.
"I thought Dallas Creamer was a star tonight," Peluso reflected. "He caused turnovers, came up with big ground balls and had a great day clearing. Loved his early goal too!"
Stevens went 20-of-21 on the clear. The visiting Pride went 15-for-17.
The Ducks outshot Widener 45-33 on the evening, including a 30-20 discrepancy in shots on goal. The Pride won 15 of 29 faceoffs leading to a 33-32 edge in ground balls. Anthony Paone went 15-11 in the 'X' for Widener to lead the Pride. Sophomore Connor Murphy recorded a .700 winning percentage in the faceoff circle (7-for-10) to lead all players.
The visitors jumped on the board first as Nick Dillorio beat White 1:24 into the opening quarter. The lead would be short lived, however, as Dawson scored twice in a 2:40 span to put Stevens in front. Bailey picked up his second assist of the evening, feeding Monteleone, who beat Horton to give the Ducks a two goal lead. Gebhardt recorded his first of the night just 1:24 later to push the lead to three.
A fiesty and battle-tested Widener squad rallied with three straight goals over a two-minute stretch to knot the teams at four. Boutureira tallied his first of the night to reclaim the lead for Stevens. Creamer scored his first of the year with 11 seconds remaining in the first, to the delight of the home crowd!
As has been the case in the previous two contests, the second quarter proved to be the key period for Stevens. Monteleone scored an 'Up' goal to open the period and by the time halftime came, back-to-back goals from Gebhardt gave Stevens a 10-4 lead. Including tonight, the Ducks have outscored its last four opponents 20-3 in the second period.
Gebhardt continued to show off his offensive skills, scoring the first two goals of the third period. Paz Gismondi found the back of the net for the second time this season for Widener to briefly slow down the Stevens offense. Rogers scored his sixth of the year to close out the stanza.
Widener scored two of the first three goals in the fourth, before Rogers and Ipeker scored 46 seconds apart to give Stevens a 16-7 lead. Dawson's historic goal would come one minute later and both Dawson and Bailey would come out of the game following the goal to the cheers of the crowd and their teammates.
Ipeker would score two of the game's final three goals to complete the hat trick.
Junior Carson White made 11 saves to earn his eighth victory of the year. Sophomore Jack Braswell made one save in relief of the reigning Empire 8 Goalie of the Week and freshman Danny Tierney played the final 3:21. Carter Landry made 11 saves for Widener in relief of starter Matt Horton, who allowed eight goals in 18:49 without registering a save.