Stevenson (0-5) vs.
No. 4 Tufts (4-0)
Tuesday, March 20, 2018 - 7 pm
Owings Mills, Md. - Mustang Stadium (3,000)
COMPLETE GAME NOTES (PDF) DIGITAL GAME PROGRAM
SERIES HISTORY WITH TUFTS
• Tufts owns a 4-3 lead in the all-time series since the two teams began playing in the 2011 season. All seven meetings have taken place in the Baltimore area, with the first meeting at Towson's Johnny Unitas Stadium and the last six at Mustang Stadium. The two teams have alternated wins, with the Jumbos winning in odd years and the Mustangs in even years. Tufts won 16-13 in 2017, while in 2016, Stevenson defeated the top-ranked and defending national champion Jumbos 11-10.
ABOUT TUFTS
• Tufts, ranked No. 4 in this week's USILA poll, is coming off a 20-6 win over Colby on Saturday. The Jumbos are off to a 4-0 start, including a 2-0 NESCAC mark, and have scored at least 16 goals in each of their games and have topped the 20-goal mark three times.
WHAT'S NEXT?
• Stevenson wraps up its stretch of nationally-ranked foes to start the season when it hosts No. 3 Cabrini Friday night. The Mustangs then open up MAC Commonwealth play on Tuesday by hosting Alvernia.
REACHING A MILESTONE
• Stevenson head coach Paul Cantabene recorded his 200th career win May 6 last season with a 12-6 win over Albright in the MAC Commonwealth championship game He is the 24th active NCAA Division III coach with at least 200 victories. Cantabene ranks fourth among active Division III head coaches with a .767 winning percentage.
PILING UP THE POINTS
• With 54 goals and 27 assists last season, then-sophomore JT Thelen totaled 81 points in 2017. That was the most points by a Mustang since Chris Dashiell recorded 33 goals and 53 assists for 86 points in 24 games in 2013.
TOUGH SCHEDULE
• Each of Stevenson's first seven opponents appear in this week's USILA Top 20, all in the top 11, and a total of eight foes are in the poll. Seven of Stevenson's games against ranked opponents will come at Mustang Stadium.
SAM ROSS NAMED MAC COMMONWEALTH DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Sophomore Sam Ross was named the MAC Commonwealth Defensive Player of the Week on March 5 after stopping 14-of-21 shots in the setback to Gettysburg on March 3. Through three games, Ross owns a .571 save percentage and 8.94 goals-against average.
DeFAZIO NAMED TO USILA TEAM OF THE WEEK
• Senior Dominic DeFazio had seven ground balls and four caused turnovers in the season opener against Denison to get selected to the USILA Division III Team of the Week. The Team of the Week replaces the prior regional Players of the Week selected by the organization.
TATUM MAKES GREAT FIRST IMPRESSION
• Freshman Jacob Tatum scored four goals in the season opener against No. 4 Denison on February 25. It marks the most goals in a game for a Mustang freshman since Steve Banick scored four times against Denison on May 16, 2012. He is currently tied for the team lead with nine goals.
SLIMMEST OF MARGINS
• The Mustangs opened the season with a pair of one-goal games, falling to No. 4 Denison 11-10 and No. 6 Gettysburg 7-6 in overtime, followed by a 9-7 defeat at eighth-ranked Salisbury and an 11-9 setback to No. 15 Dickinson.
NCAA STREAK
• Stevenson has qualified for the NCAA Tournament field in each of the past nine seasons. Only six other schools have qualified for the NCAAs every year during that span (Cabrini, SUNY-Cortland, Montclair State, Salisbury, Springfield, Tufts).
CONFERENCE CALL
• Since joining the MAC Commonwealth prior to the 2013 season, Stevenson is 40-0 during the regular season against conference foes, and has won all five conference titles over that span. Prior to that, the Mustangs were members of the Capital Athletic Conference and the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference. Paul Cantabene has compiled an 91-7 (.929) mark in conference play.
GOING TO THE POLLS
• Since March 3, 2008, the Stevenson men's lacrosse team has appeared in 124 of the last 126 USILA Top 20 polls. The Mustangs had appeared in the poll 97 straight weeks before dropping out on week 3 of 2016, but it was a one-week absence as Stevenson was No. 20 in the next poll. Stevenson has been in the top 10 in 95 of those 126 polls.
HOME SWEET HOME
• Since the Stevenson men's lacrosse team moved into Mustang Stadium for the 2012 season, the Mustangs are 70-19 (.787) at home. Stevenson was 28-2 at home over the first two seasons, and was 9-2 in 2017.
GETTING SOCIAL
• Stevenson athletics can be found on Facebook by searching for "Stevenson University Mustang Athletics" or on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat at @GoMustangSports. Stevenson men's lacrosse can be found on Twitter at @StevensonLax.
MUSTANG SPORTS NETWORK
• All Stevenson men's lacrosse home games can be seen and heard on the Mustang Sports Network. To watch, simply visit www.gomustangsports.tv, or visit the Stevenson University Athletics Roku channel. To listen to the broadcast of any home game, simply visit sfmsports.net.
Head coach Paul Cantabene appears weekly on the Paul Cantabene Show presented by Buffalo Wild Wings on www.gomustangsports.com each Monday during the season. The show is available on the athletics website as well as on the Stevenson Roku channel, YouTube channel and Facebook page.
