Following last weekend’s struggle, the No. 23 Stony Brook Hockey team was swept this weekend in heartbreaking fashion by an Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League (ESCHL) foe.
After being swept by Niagara up north, the Seawolves (12-11-6, 5-3-1 ESCHL) returned home to the The Rinx for a two-game set with the Syracuse Orange (14-12-4, 3-4-2 ESCHL) this weekend. Stony Brook dropped both games of the series in overtime, losing a tightly-contested game on Saturday by a score of 3-2 before surrendering a late lead in Sunday’s game and falling 4-3 in the official league game.
In the opening game of the series, the Seawolves lost a back-and-forth game in overtime.
In game one, the Orange found the back of the net first with 4:35 remaining in the opening period. Taking the puck out of his own zone, Syracuse center Jack Alecia knifed through the middle of the ice and went coast-to-coast, ripping a wrist shot past goaltender Steven Reganato’s blocker to give the Orange a 1-0 lead.
Early in the second period, the Seawolves found the equalizer. Off the rush, center Nick Newman found winger Alex Scimeca driving hard to the net. Scimeca protected the puck around Syracuse defenseman Ryan Thomas before banking a shot off goaltender A.J. Finta’s right pad and into the net from a tough angle, tying the game at one apiece just under five minutes in.
“[Scimeca]’s been playing awesome,” associate coach Andrew Veglucci said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “He’s been a catalyst to our success for sure.”
Scimeca’s goal was the lone tally during the second frame, sending the game into the final period of regulation tied. However, the Orange struck next to regain the lead late in the third.
With 7:50 to go in the third period, Syracuse defenseman Carter Rugg carried the puck up ice, flying into the offensive zone down the right side before laying a centering pass into the slot for winger Sam Hutchinson. From there, he tapped the puck high and over Reganato, giving the Orange the lead back.
Despite Syracuse’s go-ahead marker, Stony Brook refused to go away quietly. Less than three minutes later, center William Kormanik won a draw back to winger Paul DeSaro at the top of the left circle, who quickly fired a shot that surprised Finta and evened the game at 2-2 with just under five minutes left in regulation.
The Seawolves made an offensive push following the game-tying goal, but Finta stepped up in the biggest moments of the game to force overtime. The netminder made several key saves, including a game-saving stop when he kicked out his left pad to deny winger Thomas Liebold of what appeared to be a tap-in goal with 1:16 left.
Unfortunately for Stony Brook, it barely had a chance to possess the puck in the extra frame. Syracuse dominated puck possession time in overtime, culminating in a game-winner by Hutchinson. The graduate student took advantage of blown coverage by the Seawolves, receiving a pass from defenseman Connor Chesner in the left faceoff circle before roofing a short-side shot over Reganato’s shoulder for his second goal of the game to send his team home happy 1:47 into overtime.
The Orange outshot Stony Brook 40-37. In the special teams department, it was a tale of two teams for the Seawolves. Stony Brook killed off all three of its penalties but failed to connect on any of its four power plays.
Despite the series-opening defeat, the Seawolves got another great game out of their goaltending, as Reganato turned aside 37 of the 40 shots he faced during the loss.
In regards to how the Seawolves can make Reganato and their other goalies’ jobs easier, Veglucci emphasized that simplicity is key.
“Just simplifying our game at times and supporting the puck more,” Veglucci said. “That way, we can come up as a unit and when we create turnovers, we have guys to move pucks to.”
In the series finale, Stony Brook found itself with a multi-goal lead going into the third period, but it was unable to hang on.
To start game two, the Seawolves got on the board just prior to the midway point of the first period. Center James Kozicki created the opening goal, as his hard work along the boards and below the goal line helped set up winger Justin Nakagawa, who curled from the left corner and ripped a wrist shot over Finta’s right shoulder from between the circles.
Stony Brook took its lead into the first intermission, but it did not take long for the Orange to tie it up. Just 24 seconds into the second period, a turnover and sloppy defensive-zone coverage by the Seawolves left Hutchinson all alone in the slot, where he fired a wrister past goaltender Scott Barnikow, just below the crossbar, tying the game at 1-1.
However, Stony Brook responded almost immediately. Just 1:21 later, the Seawolves won another board battle with Newman and DeSaro at the forefront. After getting control of the puck at left point, winger Kyle Nestepny — who is still posted up on defense amidst the team’s injuries — walked into the high slot and went top shelf, sniping a shot past Finta on his glove side to put Stony Brook ahead 2-1.
Just past the halfway point of the middle frame, the Seawolves found the back of the net again to extend their lead, as their power play went to work and capitalized. This time, it was Nakagawa below the goal line finding Kozicki in front, who fired a one-timer underneath Finta’s pads to extend Stony Brook’s lead to 3-1.
However, early in the third period, Syracuse proved that the game was far from over. Just past the three-minute mark, Chesner pinched in from behind the net and fed Hutchinson out in front, who converted on a one-timer to cut the Orange’s deficit to 3-2 with his second goal of the contest.
The Seawolves held their lead into the latter stages of regulation but eventually, a bad bounce wound up costing Stony Brook the lead. A point shot from Rugg missed the net well wide, but Syracuse defenseman Sean Caddo was in a perfect position for the rebound off the end boards. From the right dot, he quickly released a shot past an out-of-position Barnikow to knot the game at 3-3 with just 2:53 to play and eventually force overtime.
In overtime, Stony Brook had plenty of opportunities to win, but was unable to solve Finta. With just under two minutes left in the extra session, Chesner broke toward the net while being checked from behind by Scimeca. With just one hand on his stick, Chesner was able to slide the puck under Barnikow while barreling into him for the game-winning goal, completing the Orange’s comeback and weekend sweep of the Seawolves.
“It’s heartbreaking,” head coach Chris Garofalo said. “Unfortunately, throughout this whole season, we’ve had trouble maintaining a lead. You have got to lock it down and we just don’t.”
In spite of the loss, Stony Brook controlled play for most of the contest. The Seawolves outshot Syracuse 41-30, went 1-for-3 while on the power play, and killed off all three of their shorthanded disadvantages.
In the crease, Barnikow denied 26 of the shots that came his way.
In the offensive zone, DeSaro, Nakagawa and Kozicki each bagged a goal and an assist. Scimeca and Nestepny each notched a goal while Kormanik and Newman registered two helpers apiece.
Next weekend, Stony Brook will look to snap its four-game winless streak when it wraps up its regular season against the Drexel Dragons with senior night at The Rinx. The Dragons are 18-9-1 this season and 5-4-0 In ESCHL play. Drexel is coming off a split this past weekend, as it defeated West Chester 6-4 but dropped its second game to Delaware 4-2. Puck drop is set for 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and the contest will count toward ESCHL standings.
Kevin Broderick also contributed reporting.
