The best shooting output from the Stony Brook men’s soccer team this season wasn’t enough to avoid its fourth consecutive loss.
The Seawolves (3-5, 1-2 CAA) welcomed the Yale Bulldogs to Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Tuesday, Sept. 20. A back-and-forth affair resulted in Stony Brook being defeated by a score of 3-2.
Yale struck first in the 10th minute when forward Paolo Carroll scored his fifth goal of the season off of an assist from forward Eric Lagos. After that, Stony Brook dominated the game and tied it up early in the second half. Midfielder Trausti Birgisson scored his first goal of the season in the 56th minute when he caressed a shot into the right corner of the goal off of an assist by midfielder Amit Magoz and forward Jonas Bičkus.
Stony Brook suffered a huge blow in the 59th minute when forward Kameron Blaise scored the tie-breaking goal, only to have it negated due to an offsides call.
However, Magoz helped the team officially take the lead in the 62nd minute when he found Bičkus with a nicely weighted cross. The forward’s header was saved by Yale goalkeeper Elian Haddock, but a fortunate bounce off of the post allowed Bičkus to tap it into the open net and give the Seawolves a 2-1 lead.
Just two minutes later, Yale tied the game up through a set piece with a goal off a free kick by defender TJ Presthus into the right corner. In the 84th minute, Carroll struck again by scoring off of a rebound to give the Bulldogs the lead and break Stony Brook’s heart.
The Seawolves outshot their opponents 18-10 on the day and forced Haddock to make eight saves, which was a season high.
“Overall, I thought it was a good performance,” head coach Ryan Anatol said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “I thought we were the better team. I thought we deserved more. You look at all the chances; the goal that got disallowed … you always talk about the performance, and does the performance put you in a position to win the game? And I thought for sure it did that.”
In a game where one goal was the difference, Stony Brook would have certainly liked to have had that goal by Blaise stand.
Birgisson’s goal snapped several droughts. It was his first goal since March 26, 2021 against UMBC. It was also Stony Brook’s first goal in 384 minutes and 39 seconds.
Another bright spot for Stony Brook was Magoz. For the second straight game, the sophomore played all 90 minutes and recorded two assists. It was the first multi-assist game by a Seawolf this season.
“I thought he was very good,” Anatol said. “He was good in possession. He was able to get us out of pressure. He defended well. I thought it was probably his best performance since he’s been here.”
Bičkus’ goal and assist puts him at eight points for the season, which is the most on the team and four more than the second-highest total.
Stony Brook will complete its four-game homestand on Saturday, Sept. 24, where they will face Northeastern in a conference matchup. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. The Huskies are 2-2-3 on the season after losing to Hofstra 2-1 last Saturday.
