HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 19, 2022) – Senior Michael Burns and junior Jack Savarese each scored twice, but the Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team was unable to overcome a slow start in falling to No. 3 Tufts University 18-5 Saturday in a non-conference matchup at the DeBaun Athletic Complex. Senior Henry Johnson also found the back of the net for the Ducks, who dropped their third straight in falling to 2-6. The contest marked the end of a stretch that saw Stevens play the top three ranked teams in the country over an 18-day period. To date, of the Ducks' eight contests, half have been against nationally-ranked teams, with a tilt at No. 16 Stevenson still left on the schedule later this season. "We have played 'the standard' in Division III lacrosse over the past few weeks and we have some work to do to hopefully play these same teams down the road," head coach Gene Peluso said. "We have learned a lot about ourselves these past few weeks; some good things too, good things from young players." Senior Henry Johnson had the final goal of the day for the Ducks, as six different players found the scoresheet. In addition to his two goals, Savarese also registered one assist. Senior Tyler Ryan, junior Jake Wright and graduate student Ryan Caplis each had one helper to round out the Ducks' offensive contributions. Mac Bredahl had three goals and five assists to lead Tufts, who won for the fourth time in as many games. It was the first meeting between the teams since 2019. Sophomore Jake Zeyer made a career-high 18 saves in a losing effort for the Ducks. First-year Justin Gold came on in the fourth quarter and made four saves. Conner Garzone made 13 saves to earn the victory for Tufts. Cody Wiebe took over for Garzone at the start of the fourth quarter and stopped six shots. "We aren't satisfied with our play by any means, but we need to prepare for conference play," Peluso shared. "Some teams in our conference are playing well right now and we will have to focus and move forward with our game plan." Tufts jumped in front in the first quarter, scoring five straight goals to open the game. Duke Alf opened scoring in the fifth minute with Camden Kelleher doubling the Jumbos' lead 90 seconds later. Jack Boyden scored three straight goals to complete a hat trick before Burns put Stevens on the board with his 11th goal of the year. Trailing 6-1 at the end of the first quarter, Burns scored on the powerplay to bring the Ducks within four. Cole Salton scored the first of his three goals of the day with just under five minutes left in the quarter, but that would be the only goal conceded by the Ducks in holding Tufts to its lowest goal output in a quarter this season. Stevens largely controlled play in the second period, winning the only two faceoffs in the frame and forcing six Tufts turnovers. Tufts broke the game open in the third quarter, scoring eight unanswered goals. Alf would add his second of the game to open fourth-quarter scoring, before Savarese ended the Tufts run with consecutive markers. Back-to-back tallies from Owen Sedransk and Kelleher pushed the margin back to 18-4 before Johnson's first goal of the season provided the final outcome. A rapid pace of play led to the teams combining for 115 shots. Tufts finished with a 65-50 edge on the game, although over quarters one, two and four, the margin was just 44-43. Forty of the Jumbos' 65 attempts registered on goal, while 24 of the Ducks' 50 attempts were on target. Savarese fired off a game-high 14 shots, while Bredahl led Tufts with 12. The Ducks committed just 12 turnovers on the day, while Tufts committed 23. The Ducks forced 12 of the Jumbos' 23 miscues. Junior Joe Cawley led the efforts with three caused turnovers, while Savarese, Burns, Zeyer, Wright, graduate student Owen Stempkovski, junior Evan Eggleston, sophomore Jesse Tareco, senior Tom Conway and first-year Nathan Lapat each had one. Each side won 13 faceoffs. Sophomore Conner Park went 7-5 in the circle to lead the Ducks, while classmate Russell Eberding had six wins. Parker Merril had six wins to lead Tufts, while Aidan Hesse added four. Tufts had a 52-34 edge in ground balls. Kyle Adelmann led both sides with seven, while Zeyher led the Ducks with six. The Ducks went 2 for 4 on extra-man opportunities with Burns and Savarese scoring on the powerplay. Conversely, Tufts went 3 for 7, including an 0 for 3 performance in the first half. The Ducks found success 26 times on 27 clear attempts, while Tufts went 30 for 39. Up Next: Men's Lacrosse heads to Center Valley, Pennsylvania on Mar. 30 for the MAC Freedom opener at DeSales. The Ducks are 3-0 all-time against the Bulldogs, including a pair of victories in 2021. A link for live stats is posted to StevensDucks.com.