With its third-straight win, the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team is now over .500 for the first time this year.
The Seawolves (5-4, 2-0 CAA) made their way down to New Jersey on Saturday afternoon for a matchup with the Monmouth Hawks. After falling behind early, Stony Brook rallied in the second half to earn a hard-fought 15-12 win.
Stony Brook started off slowly, falling behind 5-0 through the first 10 minutes of the game. However, after attackman Dylan Pallonetti finally got the Seawolves on the scoreboard, the momentum of the game flipped.
Alongside Pallonetti, midfielder Will Button and attackmen Blake Behlen and Jonathan Huber all scored to help Stony Brook erase the five-goal deficit and tie the game 7-7. Monmouth midfielder Luke Cole briefly gave his team the lead back with just over five minutes remaining, but midfielder Matt Anderson quickly responded with a goal of his own.
Stony Brook entered halftime on an 8-3 extended run, having tied the game at eight apiece.
Head coach Anthony Gilardi commended his team for not giving up after the unideal start.
“I am proud of the team for sticking to the plan and not panicking after going down 5-0 to start the game,” Gilardi said in a postgame interview with Stony Brook Athletics. “The bench was electric and helped us bring the juice as we chipped away at the lead.”
Stony Brook continued its scoring streak to open the second half. After Behlen scored a goal in a man-up situation, midfielder Caleb Pearson scored for the third consecutive game. Huber gave Stony Brook a three-goal lead with his second goal of the game with just 2:29 remaining in the third quarter.
Monmouth did not shut down, as attackman Cade Stratton cut into Stony Brook’s lead with a goal towards the end of the frame. Monmouth had a chance to get even closer after that, but goalkeeper Jamison MacLachlan caused a turnover to help preserve Stony Brook’s 11-9 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Hawks caught up to the Seawolves in the final period when they got back-to-back goals from midfielder Matt Soutar and Stratton. Just under four minutes later, Pallonetti broke up the tie with his fourth goal of the day. This goal was the 100th of his career.
“I thought Dylan was fantastic again and I am so pumped for him on getting his 100th career goal in a big moment when we needed it,” Gilardi said.
Stony Brook’s 12-11 lead did not last for long, as Monmouth attackman Ty Cafferelli tied things up again with his third goal of the game.
Now in crunch time, Pallonetti took over the game and gave Stony Brook the lead for good with his fifth goal of the day at the 7:31 mark. Button doubled the Seawolves’ lead with a goal four minutes later, and Pallonetti iced the game by scoring again with 13 seconds left.
After stumbling out the gate, Stony Brook’s offense had the upper hand. The Seawolves outshot Monmouth 46-32. They generated 26 shots on goal while the Hawks only had 21.
MacLachlan struggled in the cage early, but turned it up as the game went on. He racked up four saves in the fourth quarter and finished with nine for the game, good for a 42.9% save percentage. Due to his improvement down the stretch, Stony Brook’s defense did not surrender a goal over the final 8:49 of the game.
Monmouth goalkeeper Andrew Kuhlman posted similar numbers, recording 11 saves and a 42.3% save percentage.
Monmouth was able to create more turnovers throughout the game beating Stony Brook 16-10. It also proved to be stronger winning 21 out of 31 total faceoffs. However, the Seawolves were able to pick up more ground balls than the Hawks 34-30.
Pallonetti tallied seven points, as he led the team with six goals and added one assist. Behlen earned himself a hat trick, while Huber and Button both scored two goals. Anderson and Pearson each added one goal apiece.
Huber and midfielder Noah Armitage co-led the team with three assists each. Anderson threw in another two dimes.
Long stick midfielder Christian Lowd led the team with four caused turnovers and was able to scoop up three ground balls. Faceoff specialist Declan Mitchell picked up six ground balls to lead Stony Brook.
The Seawolves had an interesting day in the possession battle. Though they were +6 in turnover differential and picked up four more ground balls than Monmouth, they went just 10-for-31 on faceoffs. Mitchell had a rough go at it, winning only nine of his 27 faceoff opportunities.
On the bright side, Stony Brook’s primary faceoff specialist Renz Conlon returned to the field after being injured three weeks ago against Brown. He went just 1-for-4 on faceoffs in his return.
Stony Brook will look to keep the winning streak going next Saturday when it hosts the Towson Tigers. Opening faceoff is scheduled for noon. The Tigers are currently 2-6 after winning 11-7 against Fairfield on Saturday.
