Coach Chuck Priore and his Seawolves football team would rather be approaching this year’s Wolfstock Homecoming game under different circumstances.
After losing two of its first three games by at most one score, Stony Brook will now have to put their struggles behind them.
And they will have to do so quickly since time and Lafayette College will not wait for them when next Saturday comes.
“It’s getting old at this point,” Stony Brook’s Brock Jackolski said about the losing. “We need to stop and turn it all around.”
After dropping their home opener to Brown University Saturday night, the Seawolves are now 0-3 on the season, and desperate for a win.
Conference championships in the past two seasons have only heightened the expectations for the Seawolves this year, and such a start is disappointing for both the Seawolves and their fans.
But in the midst of disappointment lies silver lining of optimism: Priore’s Seawolves have never lost a homecoming game in five tries thus far. It’s a streak that Priore would be only too glad to continue.
“Unfortunately or fortunately, we’ve been here before,” he said. “We’re very resilient.”
Buried in face-value disappointment is a strange source of comfort.
There is more than one way of saying that a team lost by one score: the Seawolves have played some good teams and nearly prevailed.
If history had only been slightly different, Stony Brook would be 2-1 at the moment. Priore knows that his team has potential for greatness.
“I have no doubt that we’ll be a good football team,” he said. “It’s just a matter of preparing correctly for the game. We’re going to get back to work with a positive attitude.”
And it’s a lot easier to keep a positive attitude when you have the combination of Miguel Maysonet and Brock Jackolski in the back-field.
Lafayette won’t have to do much soul-searching to establish a positive aura after achieving their first victory of the season over the University of Pennsylvania.
The Leopards had previously lost 42-6 to North Dakota State and 14-13 to Georgetown.
The Seawolves lost to the Leopards last year on Oct. 16, 28-21.
This time, however, Stony Brook will have the home-field advantage.
And the Seawolves also understand their role in the experience that is Wolfstock.
“I think it’s an opportunity to share with the alumni the positive experience of Stony Brook,” Priore said. “For us, it’s another day on the job.”
The Seawolves’ job will resume at 6 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.