With a Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) regular-season title in its sights, the Stony Brook’s women’s soccer team bagged its fifth conference victory of the season in convincing fashion.
The Seawolves (10-3-3, 5-1-2 CAA) welcomed the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) Seahawks (4-8-5, 2-4-3 CAA) to Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Sunday. In a dominant display, Stony Brook’s high-flying nature allowed it to dispatch the visitors in 3-0 style.
With their third straight victory, the Seawolves — alongside Monmouth — remained only a point behind Elon in the race for first place in the CAA table.
After a neutral opening to the match, the Seahawks were the first to threaten. In the 24th minute, UNCW forward Kayla Burroughs had a one-on-one opportunity against goalkeeper Nicolette Pasquarella. From inside of Stony Brook’s box, Burroughs unleashed a shot that was saved by Pasquarella.
“She’s been with us for four years and this is probably the best season she has played with us,” head coach Tobias Bischof said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “She made two really good and very important saves. I’m happy with her and the goalkeeper coach.”
With a scoreless half approaching, midfielder Hedvig Helling had other ideas. She earned the Seawolves a penalty after being taken down in the box by UNCW defender Rachel Fry. Forward Reilly Rich converted the attempt to make it three penalty goals for her in the last six games and give Stony Brook the lead.
“She can go either left or right, and she put it where I believed it would go,” Bischof said. “Which is in the back of the net.”
After just a single goal in 10 shot attempts in the opening 45 minutes, the Seawolves doubled their lead in their first chance of the second period. A play involving midfielder Mercy Sabuni Söderling and defender Emanuelly Ferreira — who registered assists on Stony Brook’s second goal — ended with a shot by Rich that was deflected by UNCW defender Alyssa Chuderewicz in the back of the net in the 47th minute.
The Seawolves’ third score came off a corner kick from the left hash. It was taken by defender Aneta Sováková, who found midfielder Linn Beck in the near post for a header across the goal that nestled towards the left corner.
Pasquarella made five saves in her third solo clean sheet of the year. Conversely, UNCW utilized two goalkeepers: Morgan Hobbs and Kitty Pope. The former played 52:59 and allowed a pair of goals in contrast to three stops, while the latter had 37:01 of playing time and gave up a goal alongside making two saves.
Having already clinched a CAA Championship berth, Stony Brook will turn its attention to the aforementioned regular-season chip. To kick off the final week of the regular season, the Seawolves will host the Northeastern Huskies at LaValle Stadium. The Huskies are 2-8-6 overall and 2-3-3 in conference play in 2024. They are coming off a dominant 4-0 win over Campbell. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.