The Stony Brook’s men’s soccer team feasted on a Division III opponent for its first nonconference victory of the season.
In their return to Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Tuesday, the Seawolves (4-3-2, 2-0-2 CAA) welcomed the St. Joseph’s Golden Eagles (4-5, 1-2 Skyline). They feasted on their lower-division opponents in historic fashion, beating them 8-0 en route to several program records.
The Seawolves’ eight goals and six assists were each the second-best marks in program history, respectively. The eight goals broke their Division I record for a single match, while the six assists tied their Division I single-game record.
The historic victory expanded to the sidelines as well. Head coach Ryan Anatol picked up his 83rd career win with Stony Brook, making him the winningest coach in program history.
“It’s awesome; I didn’t know that coming into the game,” Anatol said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “I’ve had a great opportunity at Stony Brook — a fantastic university. A lot of good teams, a lot of good players. I’ve been really fortunate to be here, and it just means I’ve been here for a long time. But again, it’s been a pleasure, and hopefully we can get many more.”
The Seawolves came out the gate hot. In the fourth minute, forward Finlay Oliver stripped the last Golden Eagle defender to set up a one-on-one against St. Joseph’s goalkeeper Giuseppe Vitale. He unselfishly laid the ball to the side for forward Olsen Aluc, who tapped it in for his team-leading fifth goal of the year.
Just over two minutes later, midfielder Justin Jean-Louis drew a foul in the box. Midfielder Trevor Harrison took the penalty kick and comfortably placed the ball into the bottom left corner of the net to double the lead.
The goals kept flowing, as Harrison bagged his second goal of the match in the 12th minute. Coming off a long ball from forward Moses Bakabulindi, Harrison controlled the ball, took on his defender and fired a shot across his body from outside the 18-yard box to make it 3-0.
In the 17th minute, Aluc and Oliver combined once again. This time, Aluc provided the assist for Oliver’s first collegiate goal. Oliver was glad to get his first career goal out of the way.
“It’s somewhat relieving,” Oliver said in a postgame interview. “I’m just happy to be out there playing and contributing.”
Another first-year Stony Brook player opened their scoring account in the 33rd minute when defender Maxx Peters finished a scrappy sequence to make it 5-0.
“It feels great,” Peters said. “I didn’t know if the first shot was going to go in, but I just kept up with it and scored. I’m happy to get my first goal.”
The Seawolves were able to sneak in a sixth goal before the end of the half in the 41st minute. Midfielder Bruno Penney settled a through ball from midfielder Wilber Gomez, put a defender on the seat of his pants with a cutback and went top shelf for the score. The goal was also the first of Penney’s NCAA career.
Stony Brook showed no mercy coming out of halftime. In the 48th minute, forwards Gabriel Ferreira and Aidan Kolbe combined for the team’s seventh goal. Ferreira finished the goal, becoming the fourth Seawolf to score his first career NCAA goal. Gomez put on the finishing touches in the 61st minute when he scored off an assist from forward Johan Velez.
With the Seawolves facing a Division III opponent and having an important match this upcoming Saturday, Anatol opted to rest most of Stony Brook’s starters and let others see the pitch.
“We went into the game trying to get a lot of different things out of it,” Anatol said. “We’re trying to get some minutes for guys that haven’t been playing as much so they stay sharp.”
The Seawolves blew up the stat sheet. They outshot the Golden Eagles 29-3. Making his first appearance and start of the season, goalkeeper Curtis Copenhaver was only forced to make a pair of saves en route to his first career clean sheet. His counterpart — Vitale — finished with eight stops.
Stony Brook will remain at home on Saturday when it matches up with the University of North Carolina Wilmington Seahawks. The Seahawks are 5-2-2 on the year and 1-1-1 in conference play after defeating Campbell 4-0 this past Saturday. Opening kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
