Montclair, NJ – Eric Radbourne scored four times with Ryan Gebhardt adding three goals as 14
th-ranked Stevens scored eight straight goals bridging the two halves as the Ducks knocked off Montclair State 16-5 at Sprague Field on Wednesday evening.
Will Reed and Bryan Rogers had two goals apiece as Stevens upped its record to 14-2 on the season. Mike Waslik and
DAN BELLEZZA had two goals each for Montclair State (7-6), which suffered its second straight loss following a three-game winning streak.
Montclair took a 1-0 lead as
SEAN STADTLANDER fed Bellezza for the game's first goal 2:07 into the contest. It took Stevens just seven ticks to tie the game as faceoff specialist Nicholas Carovale won the battle at the "X", scooped up the ball going toward the goal and first a shot into the net for a 1-1 tie.
The Red Hawks went back on top with two goals a minute apart. Waslik got the first with an unassisted tally with 10:23 to play and then fed
MATT HAEMMERLE 58 seconds later giving MSU a 3-1 advantage. Bryan Rogers answered for Stevens however Bellezza's second with 4:09 to go gave Montclair State a 4-2 lead.
From that point it was all Stevens as it tied the game before the end of the first quarter on goals from Radbourne and Gebhardt, the latter scoring with eight seconds before the horn. Radbourne opened the second with his second goals and Will Reed followed a minute later for a 6-4 advantage. The Ducks added three goals in the final 73- seconds for a 9-4 lead at the break.
Radbourne again got the first goal of the quarter as his fourth extended the lead to 10-4. Waslik broke the Steven run with his second at the 6:11 mark however the Ducks closed out the period with four goals, the last by Tim Spears with six seconds showing on the clock giving Stevens a 14-5 lead after three periods.
Carnovale had an outstanding night on faceoffs winning 15-of-20 with eight ground balls. Daniel Crotty and Dallas Creamer each forced a pair of turnovers and finished with four and three ground balls respectively. Jason Coyle collected four ground balls with goalkeeper Carson White stopping 11 shots.
JACK CARDEW made 15 saves for the Red Hawks and also led the squad with four ground balls.
JOSEPH DIANTONIO forced two turnovers.
The Red Hawks are back in action on Saturday, April 28 when it hosts University of Scranton at Sprague Field beginning at 7:00 pm. Montclair will also honor their five seniors prior to the start of the game –
ANDREW MONAHAN,
MATT AXMANN,
BRADY WULSTER,
LUKE NEALON and
ROB PAPA.