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HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Freshman Collin Clark scored a career-best five goals, including the game-winner early in the fourth quarter Friday, as third-seeded Nazareth stunned second-seeded Stevens, 13-12, in the opening round of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament for men's lacrosse.

The victory, which avenged a 19-6 defeat to the Ducks on April 23, improved Nazareth's overall record to 11-5 and lifted the Golden Flyers in Sunday's Empire 8 Conference title game at RIT. The Golden Flyers will take on the top-seeded and second-ranked Tigers (16-0) Sunday at 12 p.m. at RIT Field. The Tigers defeated Ithaca, 13-9, in the other first-round game. Stevens, ranked fifth nationally, is 15-2.

"Needless to say, this is a great win for us," said Nazareth Coach Rob Randall. "We needed some guys to step up and play well for us and that's what happened."

Specifically senior Joe Jacobs-Ferderbar, who was shut out in last Saturday's regular-season finale at RIT before emerging with three goals and two assists against the Ducks. In addition, sophomore goalie Tim Doyle made 17 saves, including a game-preserving stop on a shot by the Ducks' Brandon Faubert with :42 left. Defenseman Mitchel Frey scooped up the ensuing ground ball and Nazareth successfully cleared the ball and ran the clock out.

Trailing 12-11 heading into the fourth quarter, Nazareth got an early unassisted goal from sophomore midfielder Brian Wright, then Clark scored the go-ahead goal off an assist from Jacobs-Ferderbar as Nazareth broke free from Stevens' 10-man ride. Clark's goal came with 10:52 left and neither team scored thereafter.

As the game started, it looked like an instant replay of the teams' regular-season meeting as Stevens scored just 37 seconds into the game and emerged with a 4-1 lead just over five minutes in. Nazareth hung tough as Clark scored twice in the first quarter, including one on an extra-man pass from Scott Castle as the Golden Flyers drew within 6-4 after one quarter.

Kevin Rose scored for Stevens in the second quarter, then Nazareth scored four straight -- two each from Clark and Jacobs-Ferderbar -- to go up 8-7. Stevens evened the score at 8-8 with a goal by Rich Dupras with :04 left in the half.

The lead see-sawed back and fourth in the third quarter with Stevens taking a 12-11 advantage into the fourth quarter on goals by Christian Saley and Nicolas Philippi in the closing minutes of the third. Wright, Jacobs-Ferderbar and #C.J. Estes# had third-quarter goals for Nazareth.

That set the stage for the decisive fourth quarter as Nazareth kept Stevens off the scoreboard despite being outshot 15-8. Doyle made seven of his saves in the final 15 minutes.

"It's a great win, but there were a lot of things we could have done better," Randall said. "We could have cleared the ball better and we took a lot of needless penalties. I guess we did the things we needed to do when we had to."

Nazareth had eight penalties for 5:30 and Stevens converted three times on extra-man. Nazareth went 2-for-3 on extra man.

Clark also had an assist in addition to his five goals. Estes and Wright each scored twice and Castle had one goal and two assists. Senior #R.J. Gringeri won 10 of 23 face-offs and had a team-best seven ground balls. Junior defender Tucker Sampson# had five ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Sunday, Nazareth gets another crack at RIT, which improved to 16-0 and remains the only ubeaten team in Division III. The winner gains an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament. Nazareth is seeking its 19th NCAA berth.