The Stony Brook women’s soccer team kicks off America East tournament play at 7 p.m. Thursday when they host the Albany Great Danes in the quarterfinals at Lavalle Stadium.
The Seawolves are 5-2-1 in America East play, and are seeded fourth in the tournament. Albany is the fifth seed.
Stony Brook will be looking for a big game from senior goalkeeper Marisa Viola (Cutchogue, N.Y.) and freshman striker Meghan Gilley (Macungie, Pa.). Viola, who also holds the school shutout record, recorded four shutouts during conference play and has played every minute of every game for Stony Brook this fall. Gilley leads the team in goals with five.
Freshman midfielder Sa’sha Kershaw (Baltimore, Md.) has also been a key contributor, scoring four goals and assisting two others.
The Stony Brook defense will be keeping an especially close eye on Albany’s Chelsea DeVerna, who leads the Great Danes with six goals and three assists. The Great Danes’ Rebecca Lee assisted both goals in the last meeting between the two teams.
After starting conference play with a six-game unbeaten streak, Stony Brook is looking to recover from two straight defeats in which they failed to score a goal.
The first loss came at the hands of the same Albany team the Seawolves face Thursday evening. The Great Danes utilized two first-half goals to beat Stony Brook, 2-0.
The Seawolves then rounded out their regular season with a 4-0 loss at Maine.
Before those two games, Stony Brook was at the top of the table, having just beat rivals Boston University.
Because this is a playoff game, admission is $8 for ages 15 and up and $5 for children. Stony Brook students get in free by presenting their student ID.