Hoboken, NJ – A strong second quarter for No. 20 Stevens proved to be the difference as the Ducks handed Montclair State its third straight loss in a 12-9 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
Tommy Dawson and Connor McKeon had four and three goals respectively for Stevens (3-0), which scored five of the six goals in the second quarter en route to the win.
Sophomore Matt Hammerle had three goals for the Red Hawks (0-3).
BRADY WULSTER and
JAMES CLARKE each scored twice.
Hammerle gave Montclair a 1-0 lead near the halfway point of the opening period scoring on the man-advantage off a feed from Wulster. Stevens quickly tied the game however Clarke connected with 6:14 left for a 2-1 lead. Jan Schoonen tallied 19 seconds later as the teams finished out the first quarter knotted at 2-2.
Senior
ALEX HAHN put Montclair back in front 2:10 into the second with an unassisted score however it would be all Ducks the rest of the period as the hosts scored the final five goals. Dawson tied the game at 3-3 and Tim Leahey connected with 7:11 to go putting Stevens in the lead. Dawson added a second goal in the spurt before McKeon's goal with 33 ticks made the score 7-3 at the half.
???????McKeon made it a six-goal run early in the second half extending the lead to 8-3 before Montclair State mounted a rally with three consecutive goals. Clarke scored off a pass from
DON FINN and Hammerle got his second with 6:56 left trimming the lead to 8-5. Wulster got the last one cutting the deficit to two goals. Dawson ended the run with 1:49 to play as Stevens held a 9-6 lead heading to the fourth.
Hammerle's third goal got MSU within 9-7 early in the fourth however the Ducks clamped down on defense shutting out Montclair over the next 10 minutes while also extending its lead with three goals, the last coming with 1:55 remaining for a 12-7 lead.
Senior All-American Blasé Mantineo had an outstanding day at the "X" for the Red Hawks winning 20-of-25 faceoffs with 14 ground balls.
RYAN YOUNG had five ground balls along with a caused turnover while Hammerle and Wulster collected four apiece.
SHAUN STERNER and
GRIFFIN WOODFINLEVINE each forced a pair of turnovers.
LUCAS JONES made seven saves.
The Red Hawks will look for that elusive first victory next Wednesday, March 8 when they travel to Collegeville, PA to face Ursinus College at 4:00 pm.
