Forward Hannah Maracina came up clutch once again for the Stony Brook women’s soccer team, scoring her second game-winning goal of the year to lead her team to a much-needed victory. 

The Seawolves (5-7-2, 2-2-1 CAA) picked up the first win of their road trip at the Delaware Blue Hens on Thursday night. After back-to-back shutout losses, the second half brought Stony Brook a 1-0 victory and a crucial three points it had been looking for. 

After trading scoreless possessions for 73 minutes, the Stony Brook offense broke the stalemate in the 74th minute. Midfielder Ashley Manor set the Seawolves up with a corner kick just outside of the goalie box. Delaware midfielder Lea Panagiotidis deflected a header by Maracina in an attempt to break up Stony Brook’s scoring opportunity. However, the deflection ricocheted back to Maracina, who promptly scored from the top of the box. Despite a full-extension dive going back to her left, Delaware goalkeeper Odaliana Gomez could not save the shot. This goal was all that the Seawolves needed, as the defense held the Blue Hens for the final 16 minutes and 36 seconds off the scoreboard to help secure the shutout.

Head coach Tobias Bischof was pleased with his team’s effort, as it was able to secure its second win of the conference season and its first away from home.

“Points are not easy to come by on the road and Delaware definitely made us work for them today,” Bischof said in a postgame interview with Stony Brook Athletics. “The team worked hard and found a way to get it done.”

In just her freshman season, Maracina is third on the team with four goals. Maracina continues to perform in the clutch for Stony Brook, as she has now made two game-winning goals in 2022. Her first one came in her Seawolves debut, where she made the buzzer-beating goal to beat Fordham 2-1. 

The Stony Brook offense attempted 10 shots in total with six on target. Forward Luciana Setteducate and midfielder Ashley Manor co-led the team in shots with two, as eight total Seawolves recorded a shot attempt. Delaware attempted a total of 12 shots with six on goal, making it the third straight game in which Stony Brook was outshot. However, the defense had a crucial second-half turnaround in which they only allowed one shot after allowing 11 in the first half.

In the net, goalkeeper Nicolette Pasquarella played the whole game for the third straight game in a row. Pasquarella made six saves during the match and posted the first clean sheet of her career. She has logged three other scoreless performances, but did not complete any of those games. 

The Seawolves will look to collect another three points this Sunday, as they will wrap up their four-game road trip against the first-place Drexel Dragons. The Dragons are 9-1-3 overall and are atop the CAA standings with a 4-1 conference record. They are coming off of a comeback win against Hofstra on Thursday that saw them trailing 2-0 at the half before rallying to win 3-2.