During another Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) affair, the Stony Brook hockey team suffered a tough loss after a hot start.
On Saturday, the Seawolves (5-6-2, 2-1-0 ESCHL) were back at The Rinx for a one-and-done meeting with the Drexel Dragons (10-3-0, 4-1-0 ESCHL). Though the game started promisingly for Stony Brook, it ended in disappointment, as it fell 3-1.
The Seawolves started the contest off strong, dominating the first half of the first period. At the 5:46 mark of the opening frame, Stony Brook capitalized off an offensive zone draw. Off a clean faceoff win by center Nick Newman in the left circle, winger Kyle Nestepny fired a wrist shot past the outstretched glove of Drexel goaltender Ryan Nocerino to give his team a 1-0 lead.
However, the ice tilted heavily in Drexel’s favor from there on. The Dragons controlled the remaining time in the opening period and broke through in the final minute. With just 18 seconds remaining, Drexel winger James Jacobs chipped the puck past defenseman Jackson Haskins at the Seawolves’ blue line and gloved it down. While in stride at the bottom of the left faceoff circle, he slid a far-side shot past goaltender Scott Barnikow’s left pad and into the net to even the score at 1-1 going into the first intermission.
The second period saw the Dragons continue to dictate the pace of play. Just past the five-minute mark, Drexel winger Matthew Harris stormed down the left side, made a knifty move on Haskins, drove hard to the net and beat Barnikow to put the Dragons ahead 2-1.
For the most part, the ice remained tilted due to the Seawolves’ inability to stay out of the penalty box. Although Stony Brook killed off all four penalties it took in the game, the constant trips to the box hindered its ability to snatch the momentum back from Drexel.
Trailing heading into the third period, the Seawolves were unable to find the extra push they needed, as the Dragons’ suffocating nature continued. Despite outshooting Drexel 10-7 in the final frame, Stony Brook’s offense failed to sustain offensive-zone time and most of their shots came from the perimeter with minimal traffic in front of the net.
On top of their offensive struggles, the Seawolves made costly errors in their own end as well. With 6:21 left in the game, Haskins made an ill-advised, cross-ice pass that landed directly onto Drexel winger Emil Lindvall’s stick in the slot, who buried a shot past Barnikow’s blocker to extend the Dragons’ lead to 3-1.
From there, Stony Brook made a minor push with the clock ticking down. However, like most of the night, the Seawolves had no answer for Nocerino or Drexel’s defense, which stuffed them at every corner.
“We weren’t going to the dirty areas of the ice,” head coach Chris Garofalo said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “We have to get back to the basics as a team. The more simple you are in hockey, the more success you will have.”
Though it came in a losing effort, Barnikow was a bright spot, as he has been for most of the season. The netminder turned aside 31 of the 34 shots he faced.
“He is not the issue,” Garofalo said. “Your goalies can only do so much. You have to have a team in front of you, and he didn’t have a team in front of him.”
Overall, the Dragons outshot Stony Brook 34-32. Another detriment to the Seawolves was the fact that they were only able to draw one penalty — which they failed to convert on — due to their inability to consistently control the puck and put pressure on Drexel’s defense.
Nestepny notched the team’s lone goal with Newman recording the only assist.
On a more positive note, Garofalo revealed that defensemen Kiernan Gately and Joe Trazzera are close to returning from their respective injuries and could be ready to go this upcoming weekend. However, defenseman Andrew Mancini will remain out of the lineup with a concussion.
Stony Brook will look to bounce back on the road next weekend at Tennity Ice Pavilion in Syracuse, N.Y. where it will take on the Syracuse Orange in a two-game set. The Orange are 7-8-1 on the season and 1-2-0 in ESCHL play. They are coming into the series having been swept by Pittsburgh over the weekend. The series will open with a 7 p.m. puck drop on Friday and it will conclude with a 2 p.m. start on Saturday. Only the series finale will count toward the ESCHL standings.
