THE BASICS:
 
- Score: MIT 19, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 3
 
- Records: MIT (7-2); Merchant Marine (3-5)
 
- Location: Kings Point, N.Y. (Tomb Field)
 
- The Lead: After conceding two goals in the first quarter, the MIT men's lacrosse team went on to outscore the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, 17-1, en route to a 19-3 non-conference win on Wednesday night. Graduate student Ryan Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) generated five goals and two assists for the Engineers, helping him break the NCAA all-division record for career points. He currently stands with 459 points, eclipsing the mark of 453 that was set by Jared Nelson of Pfeiffer University in 2021.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- First year Garrett Campagna (Lancaster, Pa.) opened the scoring with a man-up goal 1:48 into the game. Both teams traded goals during the frame as a strike by sophomore Nick Stiles (New Canaan, Conn.) that was set up by Teague Rice (Suffern, N.Y.) gave MIT a 3-2 edge with nine seconds on the clock.
 
- The Engineers carried the momentum into the second stanza as they rattled off five unanswered goals. Sophomore Matthew Sardis (Bernardsville, N.J.) won the opening faceoff and went directly to net and then Stiles redirected a feed from senior Tory Lentine (Flemington, N.J.). Gebhardt followed with back-to-back goals, breaking the NCAA career points record at the 9:18 mark. The Stiles-Lentine connection returned five minutes later, but Merchant Marine ended its scoring drought with 3:22 remaining. MIT responded with blasts by junior Bennett Stankovits (Rumson, N.J.) and first year Zach Bleil (New Canaan, Conn.) to enter halftime with a 10-3 advantage.
 
- Gebhardt accounted for the only goals of the third quarter as he helped increase the Engineers' margin to 12-3.
 
- MIT controlled the action in the fourth quarter as it generated seven unanswered goals. First year Bryce Metalios (Riverside, Conn.) and Stiles both scored twice while Gebhardt registered a goal and an assist. Campagna chipped in another goal as senior Connor Kaminska (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) provided the final goal with 1:02 on the clock.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Stiles finished with five goals and one assist as Sardis won 15 of his 18 faceoff attempts and corralled 11 groundballs. Rice posted six groundballs and two caused turnovers while sophomore Nico Bowden (Concord, Mass.) registered three caused turnovers and two groundballs.
 
- In net, senior Devin McCabe (New Castle, N.H.) made eight saves in the first 45 minutes as senior David Vapnek (San Diego, Calif.) turned away four shots in the fourth quarter.
 
- Gebhardt broke the NCAA Division III record for career points last Saturday as he surpassed the mark of 451 which was set by Jason Coffman of Salisbury University in 1996. Last season, Gebhardt became the NCAA all-time leader in career goals with his total currently at 347.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT continues non-conference play when it host Trinity College on Saturday, April 1 at 2:00 p.m.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
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