By virtue of a moment of magic from defender Aneta Sováková, the Stony Brook women’s soccer team started its year off on the right foot.

In front of a loud home crowd for their season opener, the Seawolves (1-0) hosted the Colgate Raiders (0-1) at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Thursday night. Although not convincingly, Stony Brook clawed its way to a 2-1 victory on the back of a pair of quality finishes.

The Seawolves got the party started early in their season debut. In the sixth minute, forward Luciana Setteducate found her counterpart Gabrielle Côté on the right flank amid a two-on-one counterattack. With her first touch, Côté cut inside and curled a left-footed shot into the top corner to give Stony Brook the lead.

“We knew we had to start aggressive and score in the first few minutes,” Côté said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “So that was our goal from the beginning, to crush their confidence right from the beginning.”

Throughout the first half, the Seawolves controlled most of the possession and created more scoring opportunities than their opponents. However, their aggressive play left them vulnerable at the back. In the 34th minute, a fifty-fifty ball fell to Colgate in its defensive half. On the counterattack, Colgate forward Cara Schmidlein delivered a precise through ball to Ana Schremp, who, despite being positioned ahead of Stony Brook’s last defender when the pass was made, was not offside, as she was in her own half.

Using her speed, Schremp set herself up for a one-on-one against goalkeeper Nicolette Pasquarella. Instead of challenging the Seawolves’ shot-stopper, Schremp dribbled past Pasquarella and slotted the ball into the open net to tie things up at one apiece.

Following the halftime break, Stony Brook scored early into the second half. In the 48th minute, Côté controlled a cross in the penalty area. With her back turned to the goal, she laid the ball off to a trailing Sováková, who, from 20 yards away, pinned a well-struck strike into the bottom left corner of the net to give the Seawolves the advantage once again.

After regaining the lead, Stony Brook kept its foot on the gas. In the 52nd minute, midfielder Gabby Daniels pinged a ball to rookie midfielder Hedvig Helling, who was making a run behind the Raiders’ backline. With a one-on-one chance of her own, Helling attempted to mimic Schremp but was fouled by Colgate goalkeeper Ella Poppinga while trying to go past her. As Poppinga denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity, she was given a direct red card.

The Seawolves did not convert on the ensuing free-kick opportunity, nor were they the more dangerous team down the stretch. Despite being a player down, Colgate created the better chances as it searched for an equalizer.

“Everybody took their foot off the pedal just a little bit,” head coach Tobias Bischof said. “Even if you play with a player up, you need to keep the tempo high and make them work even harder.”

Ultimately, though, Stony Brook was never under grave danger and hung on to secure the opening-night win.

The Seawolves outshot the Raiders 16 (seven shots on goal) to 12 (six shots on goal). Côté was the team’s most prolific attacker, as she tallied a goal and an assist. In her 43rd collegiate match, Sováková scored her first goal. Setteducate and Helling had one assist apiece.

Pasquarella put in a solid shift between the posts, as she made five saves while conceding a goal. Conversely, goalkeeper Alli Popham also made five stops in 83:44 minutes of play. She was likely supposed to only play the first half, but with Poppinga’s sending off early in the second period, she was asked to do more.

Another rookie midfielder who made her debut was Maya Corbett. Midway through the second half, she was substituted after sustaining a lower-body injury. Her status is unknown.

For its first away game of the year, Stony Brook will travel to College Park to take on the Maryland Terrapins — who are also 1-0 after defeating Lehigh — on Sunday. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.