No. 17 Men's Lacrosse Rolls Over Eastern Connecticut in Home Opener
HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 3, 2010) – The No. 17 Stevens Institute of Technology men’s lacrosse team outscored visiting Eastern Connecticut State University 13-1 in the first half en route to a 17-8 win on Wednesday evening at the De Baun Athletic Complex in Hoboken, N.J. Sophomore attackman Alex Hofrichter led the Ducks with four goals and junior Chris Laurita had a monster game, notching eight points on three goals and five assists. Junior Dave Decker made 12 saves in goal as the Ducks improved to 3-0 on the season.
The Ducks scored a total of 15 times over their first two games, but in this one the Stevens offense exploded, tallying five goals in the first quarter and eight more goals in the second.
Laurita put the Ducks up early with a tally 59 seconds in after receiving a behind-the-back pass from junior Blair Koontz and the two teams played scoreless lacrosse for the next six-plus minutes. Stevens went up 2-0 when Hofrichter set up Koontz for a tally with 7:33 left in the first and Laurita scored his seventh goal of the season 1:29 later.
Red-shirt freshman Rich Dupras made it 5-0 Ducks nine seconds later before Eastern Connecticut could finally get on the board with 1:25 remaining in the quarter.
Stevens continued to apply the pressure throughout the entire second stanza. Junior midfielder Brandon Faubert continued to score, recording his seventh goal of the season 32 ticks in, and 2:13 later, the Ducks went up 8-1 when Laurita found Hofrichter for his second goal of the game.
Junior Tom Iadanza forced a turnover, and picked up a ground ball before finding Dupras for a goal with 8:12 remaining before intermission, and Koontz scored the Ducks’ 10th goal of the game 2:23 later. Junior Dan Prakopcyk scored his second goal of the year to give Stevens an 11-1 advantage, and Faubert and Laurita netted the final two goals of the half to send the Ducks into the break with a 13-1 lead and the game in hand.
Hofrichter (2), Koontz, and junior Taylor Brown scored the Stevens goals over the final 30 minutes as the Ducks cruised to an impressive win over a 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship participant.
Stevens ended the game with a 47-33 edge in shots and a 37-30 advantage in ground balls. The Ducks limited their turnovers (18) and ECSU (0-1) did not, committing 30 in the defeat. Eastern’s Eric Vasil (Southington, Conn.) was impressive in the face-off “x,” winning 23-of-29 on the day. The Warriors were 0-for-5 on their man-up chances while the Ducks were 2-for-7.
Decker played the first 50-plus minutes in goal, making 12 saves and picking up a ground ball. Junior captain Zach McHugh picked up a team-high six ground balls and caused a game-high three turnovers. Senior captain Bobby Steinhauser and junior defenseman Ted Pfeifer each scooped up three ground balls, while sophomore Jake Messimer had three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Laurita finished with three goals and five assists, and Hofrichter had four goals and a helper. Koontz totaled five points (three goals, two assists), while Dupras found net twice, and assisted twice. Faubert finished with two goals for the Ducks.
Eastern Connecticut (0-1) was led by Grant Albertson’s (New Canaan, Conn.) two goals and one assist. Sophomore Tommy Flynn (Mineola, N.Y.) had four ground balls and a team-high two caused turnovers.
Stevens will look to continue its solid start when it hosts Springfield College at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at the De Baun Athletic Complex. For those unable to attend, the game will be webcast live at www.PennAtlantic.com/main.php.
