After leading the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team and America East conference with 34 goals this season, redshirt freshman attackman Dylan Pallonetti made league history as he won the Rookie of the Year and the Offensive Player of the Year award for the 2021 season. He is the first player to win both awards in the same season.
Following his transfer from Maryland, the Stony Brook native made his presence known in his first game when he set the Stony Brook program record for goals in a collegiate debut and tallied team-highs with six goals and seven points in the season-opening 20-8 win against Sacred Heart on Feb. 13.
After that game, he earned his first of seven America East Rookie of the Week awards, the most in conference history. He also produced four more hat tricks, including in the season’s final two games. Now, at the end of the regular season, he leads the team in goals, points (53) and assists (19).
He kept his scoring prowess up all season en route to 34 goals in 13 games (good for second in the league in goals/game with 2.62), which netted him First Team All-America East honors in addition to the All-Rookie team. Pallonetti was also named to the Tewaaraton Award watch list, an honor given to the nation’s top collegiate lacrosse players.
Pallonetti is the third Stony Brook athlete to win Player of the Year and first since Jordan McBride did so in 2011. He is the fourth to win Rookie of the Year, joining Bo Tripodi (2005), McBride (2008) and Mike Rooney (2012).
The former Ward Melville standout’s career with the Seawolves is only just getting started, but he has set the bar high for next season. He will lead the third-seeded Seawolves into the America East playoffs on Thursday, May 6 against Vermont.
