With under a minute left, midfielder Matt Anderson hit the game-winning shot to bring home the fourth-straight win for the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team.

The Seawolves (6-4, 3-0 CAA) hosted the Towson Tigers on Saturday for their first-ever home game in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Engaged in a neck-and-neck game, Stony Brook came out on top in the last minute with a 13-12 win.

After entering halftime with the game tied 4-4, Towson slightly outplayed Stony Brook in the third quarter to take a one-goal lead into the final frame.

Both teams continued to trade blows in the fourth quarter, but the Seawolves were the ones with the upper hand this time around. The period began with Anderson tying the game with his second goal of the day. However, Towson attackman Ryan Schrier restored his team’s one-point lead with a goal at the 12:49 mark.

Midfielder Will Button tied the game again with a goal just outside of 10 minutes to play. After three minutes of scoreless play, Towson retook the lead with a goal from midfielder Mikey Weisshaar.

After falling behind 11-10, Stony Brook finally generated consecutive scores, starting with star attackman Dylan Pallonetti. He knotted the game up at 11 apiece with his third goal of the game with just less than six minutes to play. As the game entered crunch time, Anderson gave Stony Brook a one-point lead by completing a hat trick of his own.

The lead did not last long, as Towson midfielder Kyle Berkeley tied the game with just 3:52 remaining. After that, both defenses tightened up and kept the game tied at 12 until the game’s final minute.

Pallonetti said that Stony Brook anticipated this level of competitiveness from Towson.

“We knew going into the game it was going to be … a dogfight,” Pallonetti said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “We knew it was going to go back and forth, but it only matters when the final second ticks off.”

As the clock wound down inside of 50 seconds, attackman Blake Behlen surveyed the field from behind the net before finding Anderson over the top. With just 44 seconds left, Anderson rolled to his right, hooked a shot to his left and found the back of the net. Stony Brook’s defense remained strong and kept Towson off the board for the rest of regulation, securing the comeback victory.

“I think our defense did a great job getting a stop,” Anderson said. “We knew we were confident in anyone who had the ball and I just found an open scene and Blake hit me. Then I just finished the ball.”

Even though Stony Brook proved to be the better team, Towson was able to create more opportunities for itself. Stony Brook’s offense was greatly outshot by Towson 54-35. The Tigers struggled with accuracy while shooting, but still wound up with nine more shots on goal than Stony Brook.

The defense held itself together, as goalkeeper Jamison MacLachlan outperformed Towson goalkeeper Evan Long. MacLachlan saved 17 of Towson’s 29 shots on cage, good for a 58.6% save percentage. Long only turned away 35% of the shots he faced.

Towson generated so many shots because it dominated the possession battle. Led by faceoff specialist Matt Constantinides, the Tigers won 20 of the 29 faceoffs. They also picked up 42 ground balls — 13 more than the Seawolves. However, Stony Brook was +4 in turnover differential and caused two more turnovers than Towson on the defensive side of the ball, which helped make up some ground.

Head coach Anthony Gilardi commended the team for going beyond what the statistics show.

“I think sometimes we all look at stats and think that really is crucial,” Gilardi said. “It really comes out in the moment what you need to do. Sometimes a team takes more shots than you, maybe they’re not great shots. We do what we need to do. The ground ball play is something we’ve got to get better at.”

Anderson and Pallonetti co-led the team with four points each. Anderson led the team with a season-high four goals scored, while Pallonetti scored three goals and added one assist. Behlen scored three points with one goal and two assists. 

Midfielder Caleb Pearson contributed one goal and one assist. Faceoff specialist Renz Conlon and midfielders Sean Carlo and Noah Armitage each added one goal to the total.

Defensive midfielder Ben Morschauser led the team with three caused turnovers and picked up three ground balls. Conlon led the Seawolves with five ground balls.

Stony Brook will look to keep its hot streak going next Saturday when it travels to Philadelphia for a matchup with the Drexel Dragons. Opening faceoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. The Dragons are currently 6-3 and 3-0 in the CAA after winning 15-11 against Fairfield on Saturday.