The Stony Brook women’s soccer team rode a dominant first half to give them their first winning streak of the 2022 season.
Coming off of a sensational opening night victory, the Seawolves (2-0) traveled to Bernie Stadium on Sunday for their first road game of the season against the Bryant Bulldogs. They beat their America East Conference replacements soundly 3-1, led by a strong scoring performance in the first half.
The Stony Brook offense made their presence felt early and often, scoring all of their goals in the first half. They drew first blood at the 19:28 mark with a goal from midfielder Gabby Daniels, coming off of an assist from forward Reilly Rich.
Just over 10 minutes later, the Seawolves tacked on another goal on an unusual play from Rich herself. After taking the pass from midfielder Kerry Pearson, Rich collided with Bryant goalkeeper Kathryn McNeil but still managed to sneak the ball past her and into the net. Inside of five minutes until halftime, defender Sammy Hannwacker scored her first-career goal to put the Seawolves up 3-0.
“It was a good performance by us in our first away game of the season,” head coach Tobias Bischof said in a postgame interview. “We looked very sharp at times, especially in the first half. I’m also happy that the five goals we have scored so far were all scored by a different player.”
The defense had a great day, largely due to the strong goaltending of its two freshmen goalkeepers. Jordan Wolf made her collegiate debut on Sunday, starting as the goalkeeper for Stony Brook. She held the Bryant offense scoreless in the first half before giving way to Ava King. King played the whole second half and surrendered Bryant’s only goal, but recorded six saves and helped preserve the team’s lead.
The Seawolves’ defense was strong all afternoon, not allowing a goal until the 86th minute, when Bryant defender Jennah Quill scored her first career goal to make the score 3-1. That would be all the Bulldogs could muster up offensively, as the Seawolves secured the win and improved to 2-0.
For the second straight game, Stony Brook outshot its opponent, as they took 16 shots compared to Bryant’s 12. The Seawolves took much better shots against Bryant than they did in their game last Thursday, as 10 of their 16 shots (62.5%) were on goal.
Stony Brook will stay on the road for its next game, as they take on the Quinnipiac Bobcats in Hamden, CT. The game will kickoff this Thursday at 3 p.m. This game will be the Bobcats’ home opener, as they won their season opener 3-0 at Lafayette last Thursday.
