One goal was all the Stony Brook women’s soccer needed to grab its first victory of the season.
With its home opener against Quinnipiac canceled due to conditions from Hurricane Henri, the Seawolves’ season debut at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium was pushed back a week to Sunday, Aug. 29 versus the Columbia Lions. By putting together their second shutout in four days, a lone score early on in the second half was enough to put Stony Brook in the win column.
“It was a great team effort today and I’m overall happy with our performance,” head coach Tobias Bischof said in a postgame press release. “There are still things we need to improve on but we are a young team and we are learning as we go.”
In the 47th minute, off a free kick opportunity, sophomore defender Kerry Pearson shot the ball deep, with the ball bouncing off a Columbia defender straight into the path of graduate forward Alyssa Francese. She found the back of the net in what ended up being the difference maker in a highly defensive contest.
Junior goalkeeper Emerson Richmond Burke recorded a shutout for the second straight match, grabbing four saves. Three of Columbia’s shots on goal came in the first half, but the Seawolves defense locked up once the team grabbed the lead, preventing the Lions from notching the equalizer. Since being substituted out for freshman goalkeeper Nicole Pasquarella in the season opener against Hofstra, Richmond Burke has put together a streak of 200 consecutive scoreless minutes in the net.
“It’s a great feeling to get our first win on the season,” Francese said. “It was a total team effort top to bottom and it paid off for us in the end result. I was super happy to get one on the board for the team to get us going in the right direction to continue this year.”
Earlier in the week, Stony Brook played to a scoreless draw against the Long Island University (LIU) Sharks on Thursday, Aug. 26. On a hot, 90-degree afternoon, the Seawolves travelled to Brookville, New York in Nassau County, coming home without a victory.
The Seawolves outperformed the Sharks in almost every aspect during the first half but had no goals to show for it. Stony Brook got off a total of six shots in the first 45 minutes of the match, with the first shot coming from senior midfielder Ranae Ward in the 9th minute. Ward was able to get a bottom right shot on target, but it was saved by the Sharks senior goalkeeper Lydia Fraga Cordoba.
Five minutes later, the Sharks attempted to shoot on target towards the goal. Just as it seemed the ball was going to enter the back of the net, it took a detour going wide.
The Seawolves controlled most of the first half, outshooting the Sharks and having most of the possession throughout the half. Stony Brook had three corner kicks, while LIU could not even get one.
The second half of the match was more closely contested. In the 52nd minute, the Seawolves were awarded a penalty kick after a foul in LIU’s 18-yard box. Francese stood up to take the penalty, but Fraga Cordoba saved it again for LIU.
After 90 minutes, the score was still 0-0. Two 10-minute overtime periods was not enough for either team to break through. The Seawolves outperformed the Sharks in extra time, outshooting them 6-0, yet none of their attempts made it through.
Stony Brook will travel to Rhode Island to take on the Providence Friars on Thursday, Sep. 2, looking to create a winning streak.
