Leading for the entire second half, it did not look as if the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team needed to do much in the final few minutes to close out a road victory.

Then, the Dartmouth Big Green scored five goals in 103 seconds. The Seawolves’ secure lead evaporated, and they suddenly found themselves with their backs against the wall. Having lost the ensuing faceoff, long-stick midfielder Christian Lowd secured the ground ball that allowed Stony Brook (6-4, 1-1 AE) to hold on for a 14-13 victory on Tuesday, April 5.

The Seawolves entered the contest in Hanover, New Hampshire having lost four of their last five games after a 4-0 start. A trio of players — attackman Kevin Mack and midfielders Matt Anderson and Mike McCannell — led the way with three goals each.

Things were going about as well as they could for Stony Brook up until the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter. The Seawolves, up 13-8, had outscored the Big Green 10-3 dating back to midway through the second period, with contributions from unlikely players such as Lowd, who earned his second pole goal of the year, and junior attackman Will Button who found the net for the first time this season and the second time in his career.

Eight different players scored for Stony Brook on Tuesday.

Up to that point, Seawolves goalkeeper Anthony Palma recorded 15 saves against eight goals allowed for a .652 clip. Dartmouth (4-5, 0-2 Ivy) proceeded to win the next three face-offs while attacking early from all sides of the field, landing a trifecta of scores in 42 seconds.

McCannell ended the Big Green’s first blitz with a laser shot from well beyond half-court, taking advantage of an empty net to go back up 14-11. 

While the Seawolves won the ensuing faceoff, they immediately turned it over and let Dartmouth score twice more in 16 seconds to make it a one-goal game. 

“Really excited to earn a team win today,” head coach Anthony Gilardi said in a press release. “We are really proud of the guys for getting back to focusing on our culture, fundamentals, and playing good lacrosse. The last four minutes were chaotic, but we made enough plays in the end to win.”

The engine of the Seawolves offense started things off less than a minute into the affair, when attackman Dylan Pallonetti, the team’s leading scorer, found the back of the net for the 24th straight game with his trademark long-range shot. Stony Brook gained the upper hand early, leading 3-1, looking like the team could run away with it.

But Stony Brook soon entered a dry spell, unable to find the scoreboard for a quarter’s worth of gameplay. The Seawolves turned the ball over five times and failed two clears, watching Dartmouth pour on four straight to take a 5-3 lead before Stony Brook responded with the next five.

Back home on Saturday, the Seawolves return to America East play, with NJIT on deck.