After three weeks away from action due to COVID-19 cases within its last two scheduled opponents, the Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team showed why they’re still the No. 5-ranked team in the nation. The Seawolves knocked off the Albany Great Danes 17-10 on the road on Saturday, April 24.
The win was Stony Brook’s 50th straight over an America East opponent, which is the longest intraconference winning streak of any sport in America East history. The Seawolves have not lost an America East game since April 26, 2014 against Vermont. Stony Brook’s 50-game conference win streak is the second-longest active streak in any Division I sport, behind Oklahoma’s 60-game win streak versus the Big 12 in softball.
“Fifty straight wins in our conference is a pretty impressive milestone for our program,” head coach Joe Spallina said in a press release. “The best part about it is that it includes so many alumni. It’s a tribute to our players, though, that they don’t get caught looking ahead and do a great job of being where their feet are.”
The Seawolves’ rust showed early in the first half, as Albany quickly went up 3-0 before Spallina called a timeout eight minutes into the game. The decision ignited the Seawolves, who scored five unanswered goals from five different players — graduate attacker Taryn Ohlmiller, sophomore attacker Kailyn Hart, senior midfielder Sarah Pulis, senior midfielder Siobhan Rafferty and redshirt-junior attacker Bridget Considine.
“It was [Albany’s] Senior Day,” Spallina said. “We knew they would come out full of energy. We had not played in 21 days. And it looked like that early on. We called a timeout and had a little one-sided intervention and they responded. From that point on, it was a 10-goal game.”
The five-goal run gave Stony Brook a lead that the team would not relinquish for the rest of the game. The Seawolves entered halftime up 10-5 after adding to their advantage seven seconds before the break.
“Our kids were motivated coming into the game for a number of reasons,” Spallina said. “Our team is starting to round into form and that’s a great sign.”
In addition to the barrage scorers, graduate midfielder Ally Kennedy, a 2021 Tewaaraton Award nominee, scored five goals to lead the team while freshman midfielder Ellie Masera had a hat trick.
Now with two games remaining, the Seawolves’ magic number is just one. They are the reigning heavy favorites to win their eighth straight America East title. Stony Brook will travel to New Hampshire on April 28 to play its rescheduled game against the Wildcats and will finish off the season at home against UMBC on May 1.
