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HOBOKEN, N.J. -- In the final 2:04 if regulation, visiting Nazareth scored two goals in a span of 38 seconds to trim its deficit to two goals. Stevens, ranked 12th nationally, thwarted the Golden Flyers' final rally attempt by controlling possession through most of the final two minutes to hold on for the 14-12 victory in a men's Empire 8 lacrosse game. Sophomore Collin Clark had a game-high four goals for the Golden Flyers.

Following the loss, Nazareth slides to 6-8 overall and 3-2 in conference contests. With the victory, Stevens improves to 12-2 overall and 4-1 in Empire 8 games. Saturday's hard-fought contest featured three lead changes and five ties.

The Golden Flyers stand in fourth place in the Empire 8 standings. The top four teams qualify to play in the conference tournament at the beginning of May. Ithaca and Stevens currently claim the top two spots with 4-0 and 4-1 respective conference records. St. John Fisher is in third place with a 3-1 record entering Saturday's contest against Alfred. The Golden Flyers host Fisher in a critical conference game on Wednesday, April 25th. Utica is presently in fifth place in the standings with a 2-3 conference record. Nazareth also has the tiebreaker over the Pioneers following the Golden Flyers' 19-7 victory over Utica on March 28th.

Nazareth scored two of the first three goals of Saturday's contest to claim the early edge. Both of the Golden Flyers' goals came on man-up opportunities. Just 45 seconds into the game, senior #C.J. Estes# put Nazareth on the board. The scoring opportunity began with a forced turnover by Estes, who collected the loose ball, then capped the sequence with his goal. After Stevens tied the score, Estes set up the scoring chance for junior Brian Wright. Wright's man-up goal came with just under eight minutes remaining in the quarter.

The Ducks tallied four goals in the final 3:31 of the quarter to take their first lead of the game. Alex Hofrichter, Nicolas Phillipi, Tim Culloty, and Charlie Cronin scored for Stevens during the run. After Hofrichter's initial man-up goal, Stevens won three consecutive faceoffs to continue to pressure Nazareth's defense.

In the second quarter, the Golden Flyers recorded three unanswered goals to temporarily tie the score midway through the period. Nazareth converted another penalty opportunity as Clark scored on the man-up only 15 seconds into the period. Senior Nate DeLone assisted on Clark's goal. Clark added an unassisted goal less than six minutes later. Following the faceoff win by freshman Drew Simoneau, sophomore Chris Aycock found Estes, who scored his third goal of the game to tie the score.

The Ducks' potent attack struck again before the end of the period to reclaim the lead. Rich Dupras broke the tie, then Kevin Rose scored two man-up goals to extend it. Rose's second goal came with 1:05 to play in the quarter. Simoneau won the ensuing faceoff to give the Flyers the final possession of the half. Freshman Kyle Fanning converted the opportunity to bring Nazareth to within 8-6 at the break.

The second half also featured a Golden Flyers' rally before Stevens pulled away for good. Two minutes into the half, DeLone opened the scoring with Nazareth's fourth man-up goal of the game. Estes assisted on DeLone's goal. Wright added an unassisted goal two minutes later to tie the score, 8-8. DeLone scored his second goal of the game, which was unassisted, minutes later to provide Nazareth with its first lead since the first quarter.

The Golden Flyers' lead lasted exactly two minutes before Stevens had another three-goal outburst in a span of 3:35. Harry Dorne ignited the run, followed by a goal apiece by Philippi and Hofrichter. Before the end of the quarter, however, Nazareth struck again to cut the Ducks' lead to 11-10 going into the final period. The Flyers' possession started with less than 20 seconds to play when freshman Jerry Chasteen forced a turnover. Sophomore Jonathan VanOrden collected the loose ball and found Simoneau, who scored nine seconds before the end of the quarter.

Stevens scored two goals in the opening 5:23 of the quarter to extend its lead to three goals. Prior to the goals, the Ducks' Matthew Deiner made two critical saves in goal to maintain the lead. Rose tallied his third man-up goal with just over 10 minutes to play in regulation to give Stevens its decisive 13th goal.

Late in the period, Clark scored Nazareth's final two goals, spanning less than a minute, to try to ignite a comeback. Following Clark's second goal, Simoneau won the faceoff to give Nazareth possession but the Ducks' Brian Seldeen caused a turnover to end the Golden Flyers' threat.

Junior Tim Doyle played the first three quarters in net for Nazareth and amassed a game-high eight saves. Sophomore Rob Olin played in goal for the final 15 minutes. Deiner finished with seven saves to earn the victory for Stevens.

Stevens had a significant 55-28 advantage in total shots, including a 49-17 advantage through the first three quarters. The Ducks finished with a 29-28 edge in ground balls collected. Nazareth recorded an 18-12 advantage on faceoffs. Simoneau was 17-27 on faceoffs and collected a game-high 14 ground balls.