The 52nd straight America East win for the No. 6-ranked Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team was a sweet one. One of the most talented senior classes in Stony Brook history wrapped up their final regular season with a dominating 18-7 win over the UMBC Retrievers on Saturday, May 1 at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.

With the game tied up after seven minutes of back-and-forth action, graduate midfielder Ally Kennedy kicked off a seven-goal run that saw the Seawolves rob UMBC of any momentum it had with the early tie. The eight-time defending America East regular season champions stormed their way to an 11-3 lead going into the half after graduate attacker Taryn Ohlmiller scored her fourth goal of the day on a tightrope-walking goal with only one second left. Senior attacker Rebecca Kinsley contributed to the score with her third assist on the day.

The team came out hot in the second half, as Ohlmiller went for another three straight before later scoring her eighth goal of the day in an epic final for the regular season. The Seawolves were also aided to victory by Kennedy’s hat trick and senior midfielder Siobahn Rafferty’s two goals. 

An assortment of one-goal games came courtesy of sophomore attacker Kailyn Hart, senior midfielder Sarah Pulis, senior attacker Bridget Considine, sophomore midfielder Kira Accettella and senior midfielder Rayna Sabella. Pulis, Kinsley and Considine added a combined seven assists on the day as well.

Ohlmiller came one goal shy of tying the program record of nine goals in a single game. 

“The focus is always just to focus on us,” Ohlmiller said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “Playing ‘Stony Brook lacrosse.’ It’s a faceless opponent like coach always says. So that was the same old getting practice in against their style of defense and what happened is what happened.”

As per the Senior Day tradition, Kennedy, Ohlmiller, Kinsley, graduate midfielder Kaeli Huff, graduate defender Sydney Gagnon and senior defender Julia Markey, as well as 2020 graduates Courtney Troyan and Caitlyn McDuffee, were honored for their irreplaceable contributions to the history of Stony Brook women’s lacrosse. 

“What they’ve done for the program, we’re forever in debt,” head coach Joe Spallina said of the graduating teammates. “From day one that they stepped on campus, they’ve been the epitome of everything that this program is about. They brought this program to new heights and they’re unbelievable people and players.”

The story is not over yet. The Seawolves now turn their attention to the America East tournament as they look to become champions for the eighth consecutive time. They will have their chance at LaValle Stadium as the regular season champions with their opening matchup on Thursday, May 6 once again facing the UMBC Retrievers at 1 p.m.

“The goal is always to win the national championship, make the Final Four, and do something that Stony Brook lacrosse has never done yet,” Spallina said.