In its first Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) matchup of the season, the No. 15/16 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team were dominant throughout and cruised to victory with ease.
The Seawolves (4-2), who have not lost three consecutive contests since 2012, broke their two-game losing streak with a blowout win against the Towson Tigers (3-3) at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Saturday. Stony Brook took the lead from the first whistle and never looked back, finishing the game with a 17-6 win to extend the longest active winning streak over conference opponents across all NCAA Division I sports.
Any attempts by Towson to keep custody of the ball was pointless, as the Seawolves dominated the first half from the get-go. Just two minutes into the game, attacker Riley McDonald beat Towson goalkeeper Jenna Cardeno with a shot to kick off the first quarter that ended with Stony Brook up 5-1.
From there, the Seawolves kept their foot on the gas in the second quarter, as McDonald and attacker Charlotte Wilmoth both found the back of the cage to nullify the Tigers’ two goals in the second to make it 7-3 at the half.
Through the first two quarters, Stony Brook won 11 of the game’s first 12 draw controls and outshot Towson 15-9.
Going into the third quarter, the Tigers’ offense kicked it up a notch with both teams trading blows. After a tally by Towson midfielder Savannah Safchuck just past the five-minute mark, the Tigers’ attempt to shrink the gap became futile, as Wilmoth, McDonald and midfielder Isabella Caporuscio quickly rattled off three consecutive goals to end the quarter at 12-5.
In the final stretch of the game, the Seawolves started the fourth quarter with another goal by Caporuscio. Although Towson was able to get one more goal on the board off a free-position shot by midfielder Casey Meredith, Stony Brook piled it on, sending the Tigers home with an 17-6 defeat.
“I look at the shots by period; I look at the draw controls; I look at the turnovers — those are really three big spots for me — and I thought we more than doubled them up with shots taken,” head coach Joe Spallina said in a postgame interview with The Statesman. “Our saves were really good — for us we were over 50% saves — which is really awesome.”
McDonald and Wilmoth led Stony Brook’s offense, with them racking up six and four goals, respectively.
Additionally, Caporuscio dominated on draws, leading the team with 10 controls overall. She also netted a hat trick to boot. Attacker Courtney Maclay potted a pair of goals, while fellow attacker Haydin Eisfeld netted a goal.
Midfielder Alexandra Fusco notched a goal and an assist. Attacker Casey Colbert was the team’s top playmaker with five assists.
In the cage, goalkeeper Natalia Altebrando made seven saves on 13 shots in the win for a .538 save percentage.
The Seawolves outshot Towson 35 (30 on goal) to 16 (13 on goal). They also won 18 draws compared to the Tigers’ 9.
“I think one thing we’ve been struggling with a little bit is the draw game, and I think today we totally dominated, which gives us a lot of confidence in that part of the game,” Wilmoth said. “And also [Altebrando]’s play was awesome today.”
The Seawolves will have some downtime before they will have to hit the road for their next matchup. Next, they will head to Colorado to take on the Denver Pioneers, who are 4-3 on the season. The Pioneers are coming off a 13-11 win over Michigan and will play Fairfield on Sunday before their contest with Stony Brook. Opening draw is set for 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18.
