It was a dominant day for Stevenson lacrosse, as both the men’s and women’s teams rolled to commanding MAC Commonwealth victories over Eastern University on Saturday. The No. 12-ranked men’s team delivered a 23-8 win in the evening matchup at Mustang Stadium, while the women’s team opened the afternoon with an overwhelming 22-1 triumph.
Men’s Lacrosse: No. 12 Stevenson 23, Eastern 8
Men’s lacrosse had a week and half to make adjustments after their narrow win against Elizabethtown 13-12 on March 26. Grant Zick shared what the team did to get back to the basics. “Over the week and a half since our last game we talked about getting back to Stevenson lacrosse which is playing together, sharing the ball, and staying positive.”
The Stevenson men’s lacrosse team (7-3 overall, 1-0 MAC Commonwealth) kicked off their conference schedule with a resounding win, dominating from start to finish in front of a home crowd. Senior attacker Gavin Gossen led the offensive charge, recording an impressive eight-point night with five goals and three assists. He was one of several Mustangs who contributed in a balanced offensive effort that overwhelmed the Eastern defense.
Stevenson set the tone early, racing to an 8-1 lead in the first quarter. Dillon Linhardt opened the scoring, followed by unassisted goals from Hunter Bryant and Max Racich.
Bryant shared how he was able to keep up the offensive dominance of the game. The key was for him to “just having fun and keeping the energy up. We lacked that in the Etown game and the team feeds off of that.”
Gossen and Racich combined again for another pair of goals, while Bryant and Graeme McCrory added tallies in the final minutes. The Mustangs’ aggressive start forced Eastern to play from behind for the remainder of the game.
In the second quarter, Stevenson continued to apply pressure. Bryant added his third of the night just 40 seconds in, and goals from Searing, Delaney, Gossen, and Racich extended the lead to 13-3 at halftime.
The Mustangs stayed relentless in the third, with Curtis, Gossen, and Linhardt continuing to push the pace. Gossen tallied two more goals in the quarter to cap his five-goal night.
Despite a brief scoring run from Eastern, Stevenson entered the fourth quarter up 17-7. Linhardt added two more goals in the final period to notch a four-goal game, while Matt Byron closed out the scoring with a goal assisted by Luke Wetzel.
Grant Zick had a standout performance as the team’s primary distributor, recording five assists. “We have incredible players on the offensive side of the ball that I am fortunate enough to play with so I think for me, it is just making sure we’re not holding the ball to long and making sure we’re not just taking good shots but great ones.”
The offense was rolling well throughout the team as Racich posted a hat trick and added an assist, while Delaney and Searing each registered three points. Goalie Tyler Merchant made 10 saves in net, anchoring the defense, while Nicholas Parolin also saw time between the pipes.
Looking ahead conference play continues as they look ahead to host Hood. Zick shared what the team will take with them as they continue conference play. “We will look to build off this win and just keep working hard and improving everyday. We know how good this team can be so it’s just all about building to that level.”
Bryant also shared what the team has to do to play against Hood. “Against a team like hood we just need to show up and play our game and not let them hang around.”
The Mustangs remain at home as they prepare to host Hood College on Wednesday evening. Face-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. under the lights at Mustang Stadium.
Women’s Lacrosse: Stevenson 22, Eastern 1
Women’s lacrosse was left with a bitter taste after their loss to No. 25 Messiah last week at home 17-10. They took that and charged into their matchup with Eastern and ran away with it from the jump.
Sophia Murray shared what the team was feeling going into this game. “I think we were definitely frustrated with our loss to Messiah so we went into Eastern with a renewed focus in running through our plays and executing them correctly to get the result we wanted.”
The Stevenson women’s lacrosse team (7-5 overall, 1-1 MAC Commonwealth) bounced back in conference play with a commanding win of their own, cruising past Eastern (2-7, 0-2 MAC Commonwealth) by a 22-1 margin. Eleven different Mustangs scored in the win, showcasing the team’s depth and ability to spread the offense.
Murray excited to see the offense clicking with 11 different players scoring shared her thoughts.
“We have many talented players that work hard every single day to make the team better, but don’t always get a lot of time on the field during games. This game and the hard work of all of our players created an opportunity for every single one of our players to showcase their skills on the field during game time, and it was incredible to see them play so well and celebrate so many awesome achievements and milestones in one game.”
Senior midfielder Kara Yarusso got Stevenson on the board early and never looked back. She scored the first two goals of the game within the opening minutes and later added two more in the first quarter.
Katherine Friedman and Olivia Galati fueled the offense with sharp passing and precise finishes—Galati would finish the day with five goals and two assists, matching Yarusso with a team-high seven points. Friedman added a career-best six-point outing, contributing three goals and three assists.
The Mustangs raced out to a 9-0 lead by the end of the first quarter, led by back-to-back goals from Galati and additional scores from Sophia Murray, Isabelle VanEmburgh, and Yarusso.
Stevenson continued to dominate possession in the second quarter, outscoring Eastern 5-0 to take a 14-0 lead into halftime.
The second half saw more of the same. Friedman completed her hat trick to open the third quarter, followed by goals from VanEmburgh, Maddie Kline, and freshman Megan Greenwell, who scored her first collegiate goal while Stevenson was a player down. Eastern managed its lone goal of the contest at 3:55 in the third, but the Mustangs responded with four more in the final period.
In the fourth, Stevenson saw a wave of milestone moments as Alice Petersen, Emma Carpenter, and Zoe Kaplan each netted their first collegiate goals. Vivi Kaminaris capped off the scoring to seal the 22-1 victory.
Defensively, Stevenson remained sharp throughout. Yarusso, Murray, and June Price each collected four draw controls, while Murray also led the team with four ground balls and three caused turnovers. In goal, Anna Johnston, Regan Torbert, and Reilly Holstrom split time, combining for four saves and locking down the Eagles’ offensive efforts.
The Mustangs will look to keep the momentum going as they travel to Hood College on Wednesday night for a conference showdown under the lights. Game time is set for 6 p.m.
