Although its offense woke up, the No. 18 Stony Brook hockey team’s disappointing season continued with another sweep.
Down in Virginia, the Seawolves (2-6-1, 1-1-0 ESCHL) were swept by the No. 15 Liberty Flames (8-6-1) in a two-game series this past weekend. Stony Brook was blown out 9-2 on Friday night before falling 6-5 in a seesawing affair.
The Flames started their scoring parade just under nine minutes into the first period. Left winger Matt Minerva sent a cross-ice pass from Stony Brook’s defensive zone right onto the stick of Liberty left winger Sam Feamster. On the breakaway, Feamster placed a bar-down shot past the glove of goaltender Matvei Kazakov to make it 1-0.
With just over a minute to go in the opening frame, the Seawolves responded. Right winger Justin Nakagawa drove to the Flames’ goal and lost the puck right in front of the crease, but left winger Grant Ermellini was there to bang it home to tie the game at one apiece.
Just 12 seconds into the second period, Kazakov turned aside Liberty left winger D.J. Schwenke’s shot, but right winger Nate Albers found the rebound and re-established his team’s lead. Just less than eight minutes later, left defenseman Andrew Mancini incidentally collided with and took out Kazakov on a pass towards Stony Brook’s net, giving Liberty center Truett Olson a tap-in goal.
Just over a minute later, right defenseman Nick Pomerleau skated around several Stony Brook players before ripping a shot through traffic and past Kazakov’s blocker to give the Flames a 4-1 lead.
With 13 seconds remaining in the second period, the Seawolves drew a bit closer. Right winger Devin Pepe had his initial shot blocked, but he collected his own rebound and netted a power-play goal to make it 4-2.
However, Liberty ended any hopes of a comeback at the start of the third period. Just under three and a half minutes in, Schwenke buried a pass from Liberty center Brett Gammer off the rush. Just 11 seconds later, Gammer walked around Mancini and scored on a breakaway to make it 6-2.
Kazakov was pulled in favor of goaltender Scott Barnikow, but he did not fare much better. Just under a minute later, Liberty center Matt Bartel scored his team’s third goal within a 67-second span to make it 7-2. Schwenke and Liberty left winger Jason Foltz each added a goal to round out the scoring.
Despite the quick turnaround with an early puck drop on Saturday, Stony Brook managed to play a much more competitive game. The Flames drew first blood just under seven minutes into the first period when Bartel stormed in from the left side and fired a far-side wrist shot over Kazakov’s left shoulder and in.
Just under three minutes later, the Seawolves knotted the game up at one apiece. Nakagawa found Ermellini open in the slot, who one-timed the feed past the right side of Liberty goaltender Jackson Glassford for his second goal in as many games.
Bartel did not let the tie last long, as he recorded his second goal of the first period with 8:39 left in the period. Liberty right winger Kam Ottenbreit forced a pass through traffic and found Bartel in the left faceoff circle, who beat Kazakov on a nearly identical shot as his first goal. With just over two minutes remaining in the opening period, right winger Mason Smith put home a rebound to extend Liberty’s lead to 3-1.
For a second-straight game, Kazakov was pulled in favor of Barnikow to start the second period. The move sparked the team, as Stony Brook rallied to erase the deficit with a pair of power-play goals. Right defenseman Owen Larson cut the Flames’ lead in half with a seeing-eye point shot that beat Glassford down low just over six minutes into the second period. Just under two and a half minutes later, center Matteo Daita — playing right winger for the day — deposited a rebound into the top left corner to tie the game 3-3.
With 2:55 remaining in the middle frame, Liberty regained the lead with a power-play goal of its own. Bartel sniped a shot from the slot into the top left corner of the cage to complete the hat trick.
Just under two minutes into the third period, Minerva intercepted a pass in the Flames’ defensive zone and snuck it through Glassford to tie the game up for a third time. However, Liberty took the lead back in quick order when Olson scored on a tap-in off a precise pass that left winger Jackson Vercellono sent through the Seawolves’ crease.
With 8:15 remaining, Stony Brook scored an equalizer for a fourth time. Ermellini carried the puck through the neutral zone and past three Flames players to create a breakaway. Though his initial shot was stopped, he put in his own rebound for his second goal of the game to make it 5-5.
With just under five minutes left in the game, Liberty right defenseman Colten Kovich kept the puck inside the Seawolves’ defensive zone and passed it to Smith, who found Liberty left winger Ryan Finch streaking down the left side. Finch toe-dragged around a Stony Brook defender and slid the puck between Barnikow’s legs for the game-winner.
Despite the sweep, Stony Brook’s power play was much improved over the weekend, as it converted on three of its 10 opportunities. Its penalty kill had a solid weekend as well, as the unit went 8-for-10.
Ermellini was a standout player for the Seawolves, as he scored three goals in the series. Nakagawa also had a nice series, as he registered assists on both of Ermellini’s goals.
Pepe and Daita broke out over the weekend, with each tallying a goal and two assists. Larson scored the first goal of his collegiate career and added an assist. Left defensemen Dylan Kowalsky, Spencer Boris and Joey Trazzera, right defenseman Nolan Towne and center Nick Gallo all dished out one assist apiece.
Stony Brook will now return home this weekend for a two-game series against the Syracuse Orange. Syracuse is 6-5-1 this year and 0-2-0 in league play after being swept in two games by No. 14 Ohio. Puck drops are set for Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Both games will count towards the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League standings.
