Following an upset loss to Rutgers last week, Stony Brook bounced back and swept Robert Morris over the weekend at The Rinx, winning the two games 5-3 and 6-5 on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
“I’m very proud of the way the boys handled themselves,” head coach Chris Garafalo said. “They didn’t let anything rattle them.”
In the first game, Robert Morris started out strong, taking a 3-1 lead after the first period thanks to goals from Wes Heinle (2) and Matt Javitt.
However, Stony Brook would fight back and tie the game in the second thanks to goals from junior John Jennings and sophomore Josh Brooks. With 13:55 to go in the third period, senior Bryan Elfant won an offensive zone faceoff and immediately set up junior Sean Collins for the go-ahead goal.
Freshman Nick Barbera would give the Seawolves an insurance goal at the 6:34 mark.
Sunday’s game would be a back-and-forth battle. Neither team held a lead of more than one goal during the first two periods, and the game was tied 3-3 at the end of the second period.
In the third period, Stony Brook began to break away. Goals from Elfant and freshman Vincent Lopes gave the Seawolves a 5-3 lead. After Robert Morris’ Kory DuMond scored a 5-on-3 goal to get the Colonials back within one, Elfant got his second of the game at the 5:46 mark after receiving a centering pass from Barbera. Robert Morris’ Heinle would score at the 2:09 mark to make the score 6-5.
Stony Brook, however, would hold on in the final minutes to pull out the win.
The wins move Stony Brook to third place in the Eastern States Collegiate Hockey League standings with 14 points, one point ahead of fourth-place Rhode Island.
Stony Brook ends it’s regular season with a two game home-stand at Rhode Island next Friday and Saturday. The third place team gets a bye in the ESCHL playoffs, with the fourth-place team having to play fifth-place Robert Morris on Feb. 17.
With the team ranked No. 17 in the national poll, Garafalo is hopeful that the team will be able to qualify for the national tournament.
“The truth is, the only thing we can do is control what we can control,” Garafalo said. “We have to win every game, and after that’s done, we’ll see what happens.”