The Stony Brook men’s soccer team could not convert on any of its goalscoring opportunities, as it was blanked for the second time this season.
The Seawolves (1-4-3, 0-2-2 CAA) faced the Northeastern Huskies (1-4-5, 0-3-1 CAA) on Friday afternoon at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, with both sides vying for their first Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) win of the year. Despite coming close to scoring on multiple occasions, Stony Brook had to settle for a single point — which did not do much for its low conference standing — in a 0-0 tie.
Coming off two straight defeats, the Seawolves came out the gate hot on Friday. In the sixth minute, forward Jonas Bičkus nearly put Stony Brook on the board from close range following a cross by defender Sean Towey but was denied by Northeastern goalkeeper Colby Hegarty.
In the 32nd minute, the Seawolves created one of their best chances. After receiving the ball at the field’s center, midfielder Bruno Penney found his counterpart — Alex Fléury — making a run to his right. Even though Fléury faced a tough angle and was 10 yards from Hegarty’s net, the Huskies’ shot stopper rushed out to meet the threat but was chipped. With the ball heading towards the goal, Northeastern defender Ethan Leary miraculously cleared it before it crossed the line to keep the match scoreless.
The next best attempt to win the game came from the away side in the second half. In the 70th minute, Northeastern defender Thomas Vold won a footrace against midfielder Lorenzo Selini and found forward Griffin Polinsky on the right flank. In a four-on-four scenario forming around Stony Brook’s box, Polinsky chipped the ball across goalkeeper Rushon Sandy’s net to forward Ethan Franco. With his first touch, Franco attempted a shot that, although weak, cross-footed Sandy. However, due to the shot’s power, Sandy was able to dive across his body and keep the ball out.
“Every game is difficult, no points are easy,” head coach Ryan Anatol said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “You want to try to pick up points at home. To do that, you have to put yourself in a position to be able to win the game. And I thought we’ve done that.”
The Seawolves outshot the Huskies 11 (seven shots on goal) to eight (four shots on goal).
Sandy kept his second clean sheet of 2024 by making three saves, while Hegarty stopped six shots in his third clean sheet of the season.
Stony Brook will take a break from CAA play and look to return to the win column on Tuesday, when it faces the St. Joseph’s Long Island Golden Eagles — a Division lll program — at LaValle Stadium. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 6:31 p.m.
