Men's Lacrosse

DeMola Scores Five Goals in Loss to Ducks

ONEONTA, N.Y. - John Dolny (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) and Daniel Prakopcyk (Clinton, N.J.) each netted three goals to pace Stevens Tech to an 11-8 victory over Hartwick, Wednesday afternoon in an Empire 8 Conference men's lacrosse clash at Wright Stadium.

The Ducks, who improved to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in league action, trailed only once in the game at 1-0 as Vito DeMola (Holtsville, N.Y.) notched the first point of a six-point afternoon 1:33 into the game to give Hartwick its lone lead. After Brandon Faubert (Virginia Beach, Va.) tied the game at 12:39, Matt Keating (Chatham, N.J.) gave the Ducks the lead for good one minute later. With Stevens Tech leading 2-1 after the first quarter, Prakopcyk, Christopher Laurita (Timber Ponds, N.J.) and Alex Heckman (Sparta, N.J.) all scored within a 2:06 span of the second period to give the Ducks a 5-1 advantage with 6:04 left. DeMola pulled Hartwick to within a two-goal deficit at 5-3 by scoring back-to-back markers with 5:59 and 4:58 remaining before intermission. However, Stevens Tech regained its four-goal cushion and cruised into halftime with a 7-3 advantage as Dolny and Prakopcyk each scored in the last 1:10 of the second quarter.

The Hawks outscored Stevens Tech 2-1 in the third. Steve Caramello (Duxbury, Mass.) opened scoring 49 seconds into the third frame. DeMola then took a feed from Dan Hushion (Farmingdale, N.Y.) with 7:56 and planted it in the net to pull Hartwick within a two-goal margin at 7-5. Dolny answered for Stevens by closing third quarter scoring with 1:12 left and then opened the fourth with his third score of the game with 11:17 left to increase the advantage once again to four goals. The Ducks held their largest lead of the contest at 10-5 shortly after as Prakopcyk registered his third tally of the game at the 9:30 mark.

Trailing by five, the Hawks pulled to within 10-8 on goals by Caramello at 8:16, Brandon Wilk (Hillsborough, N.J.) with 2:37 left, and DeMola again  at the 2:10 mark. However, Hartwick's rally was put to rest with just under one minute left as Heckman netted his second goal of the game with 56 ticks left.

Stevens' goalie, Dave Decker (Califon, N.J.) tallied eight saves in the third period alone en route to a 14-save effort. The freshman improved to 4-2 in net, while Hartwick goalie John Meade (Fire Island, N.Y.) fell to 3-4 following a 10-save afternoon.

The loss overshadowed the performance of DeMola. The freshman, who was second in the league in goals scored entering the week, tied his season highs by ripping off a five-goal, one-assist effort against the Ducks. DeMola posted the same numbers in a victory over Morrisville State earlier this season.

Hartwick, 3-4 overall and 1-2 in E8 action, returns to action, March 29 at nationally-ranked Nazareth. Opening face-off is set for 1 p.m.

STEVENS TECH 11, HARTWICK 8
Stevens Tech (4-2, 3-0) 2 5 1 3 11
Hartwick (3-4, 1-2) 1 2 2 3 8

Stevens Tech Goals: John Dolny 3 (14,15,16); Daniel Prakopcyk 3 (10,11,12); Alex Heckman 2 (2,3); Matt Keating 1 (8); Christopher Laurita 1; Brandon Faubert 1 (2)

Stevens Tech Assists: Trey Bandy 1; John Dolny 1; Matt Keating 1; Joey Simone 1

Stevens Tech Saves: Dave Decker 14

Hartwick Goals: Vito DeMola 5 (17, 18, 19, 20, 21); Steve Caramello 2 (5,6); Brandon Wilk 1 (6). Hartwick Assists: Dan Hushion 2; Vito DeMola 1; Andrew Kraemer 1
Hartwick Saves: John Meade 10