Kicking off its trip to the West Coast, the No. 6 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team put up an offensive masterclass to remain unbeaten.
In their first road game of the year, the Seawolves (3-0) blew out the San Diego State Aztecs 19-3 on Wednesday. In Stony Brook’s biggest beatdown of the new season, 11 different players scored at least one goal and put the game away almost immediately.
In what has become a trend this season, the Seawolves scored early and often. Within the first two minutes, three different scorers put Stony Brook in front 3-0. Attacker Jolie Creo extended that scoring streak at the 12:22 mark, scoring her first goal as a Seawolf. Creo struck again over four minutes later with a second goal before San Diego State midfielder Emma Betts finally got her team on the scoreboard.
The Aztecs’ glory did not last long, as the Seawolves won the ensuing draw control and quickly set up midfielder Jaden Hampel’s second goal of the game. Stony Brook scored four more goals over the final 4:10 of the first quarter to take an insurmountable 10-1 lead into the second quarter.
Stony Brook never looked back after that, outscoring San Diego State 3-0 in each of the next two quarters. The Seawolves took a 16-1 lead into the fourth quarter. A pair of insignificant goals by San Diego State attacker Deanna Balsama in the fourth quarter did not even make the game any closer, as Stony Brook outscored the Aztecs in the final frame, too.
The blowout allowed head coach Joe Spallina to introduce new faces to the field for Stony Brook. Midfielder Kylie Budke and attacker Zoey Kruger both made their NCAA debuts in garbage time and scored their first-career goals.
Stony Brook dominated San Diego State in most aspects of the game. In the draw-control battle, the Seawolves came out on top 20-6. They generated 38 shots in the game, with 29 being on goal. On defense, Stony Brook only allowed eight shots, all of which were on goal.
Defensively, Stony Brook forced 12 turnovers by San Diego State. Goalkeepers Hailey Duchnowski and Aaliyah Jones had a light day at the office, as they only faced a combined total of eight shots, saving five of them.
Stony Brook fixed some sloppy play from its last outing, where it went 15-for-22 in clears. The team was perfect in that department for the second time in three games this season, going 10-for-10 on Wednesday. The Seawolves only conceded two free-position shots as well, attempting five in return and scoring a pair.
Attacker Morgan Mitchell led Stony Brook with six points, scoring two goals and racking up a career-high four assists. Midfielder Ellie Masera led the team with four goals. Hampel, Creo and attackers Kailyn Hart and Kelsi LoNigro all scored two goals each. For LoNigro, those were her first two goals of this season.
Midfielders Charlotte Verhulst, Erin MacQuarrie and Alexandra Fusco all scored one goal each. Hart and MacQuarrie recorded Stony Brook’s only other assists, racking up one each.
Ranked competition is back in front of Stony Brook, as the team will take on the No. 9 Stanford Cardinal on Friday. The game is set to begin at 7 p.m. Stanford is 2-2 on the year after beating Cornell 17-12 on Monday.
