Lacrosse Wins Close Game With Hartford

By William Lahti

On Saturday, the Stony Brook Men's Lacrosse team earned an 11-7 victory against the Hartford Hawks. The Seawolves struggled against the winless Hawks through the first 3 quarters in what Head Coach Rick Sowell called “a recipe for an upset,” before pulling away in the fourth. Stony Brook stands at 6-4 overall, 2-1 in conference play, with 3 games, 2 in-conference, left to play.

The first quarter had very little action. Jordan McBride picked up the only goal of the quarter at 7:58. Hartford and Stony Brook both had their close calls with scoring, but they couldn't seal the deal.

Another full quarter came and went before the next goal, from senior Owen Adams at 6:37 in the 2nd. Hartford bit back at 5:41 with their first goal. McBride scored at 4:28 to make the lead 2 again. 2 minutes later, Hartford scored again to make it 3-2. Hartford tied it at 1:21. The score was tied at 3 at the half.

In the 2nd half, Hartford took the lead on Brian Tilley's second goal of the night. A Kevin Crowley goal tied it up again at 7:09. The Seawolves took the lead on a goal by Adams from Crowley at 5:21. At 5:03, Hartford tied it again. Crowley came around a mob to score at 4:01 to retake the lead. Hartford retied the game at 2:08. Tilley struck again with 5.8 to play in the 3rd to give the Hawks a 7-6 lead.

McBride tied it up in the 4th with a goal at 13:34. They made it 8-7 on a goal by Bo Tripodi from Crowley. McBride scored on an assist from Rhys Duch at 11:28 to get a 2-goal lead. They got their first 3-goal lead of the game at 3:55 with a goal by Owen Adams.

In the first half, Stony Brook had 0 saves, for only the second time in school history. The first time was in 1998, in a game against Regis University won by Stony Brook via a score of 24-4. Alex Kajencki's 2 saves, both in the fourth quarter, broke the previous record for least saves in a game of 3 saves. That record was also set in the game against Regis University in 1998. On Kajencki's performance, Sowell said, “He came up with the saves when we needed him the most.” The Seawolves struggled again with face-offs, their problem of late, in the first half, winning only 2 of 8, but rebounded to win 8 of 13 in the 2nd half.

Stony Brook's next game is at Binghamton, which stands at 3-6 overall, 1-2 AE. The game is at 3:30pm Saturday. Stony Brook can clinch a playoff spot with a victory.