The Spallina era has started off with a bang. Playing in its first game under new head coach Joe Spallina, a re-hauled Stony Brook roster starting nine newcomers beat Colgate 13-10 in its season opener at LaValle Stadium.
“It’s very relieving,” Spallina said after the game. “People are going to say it’s only one game, but it’s not only one game, this is much bigger then that for us.”
One of the newcomers, Adelphi transfer junior Demmianne Cook, lead the way for Stony Brook. The NCAA Division II midfielder of the year last season, Cook scored six goals in her Division I debut, one shy of the school’s record for goals in a game.
“I just went out there and played my hardest, like I do every day,” said Cook, who played under Spallina at Adelphi last season.
After an evenly matched first few minutes that saw the score at 2-2, Stony Brook broke away on a 7-1 run over a 14 minute span to take a 9-3 lead with around seven minutes to go in the first half.
Cook scored five of her goals during this run, three of them consecutively in a span of 1:51. Freshman Michelle Rubino, who finished the game with three goals, chipped in with a goal and two assists during the run.
“I had stayed back a couple of times to catch my breath,” Cook said. “Michelle Rubino was making plays through the midfield, she hit me with awesome passes and I just finished.”
Colgate, however, would fight back, scoring three unanswered goals in the last five minutes of the half to bring the score to 9-6.
“We changed our approach at the half,” Spallina said. “We went to a more deliberate, slow down offense, which really rested our defense, and when you’re up, the clock is your friend.”
Stony Brook would hold off Colgate in the second half, despite the Raiders’ persistent Courtney Miller, who scored three goals in the second half, each of them to get Colgate to within two.
Goalkeeper sophomore Frankie Caridi, another Adelphi transfer, made five saves for the Seawolves in her program debut.
Around the midway point of the second half, with Colgate down 11-9, the game’s tempo slowed to a crawl. Stony Brook’s Cook held the ball behind the net, and without any Colgate players pressuring her, did not pass the ball, killing off a few minutes.
“Shocked,” Spallina said when asked about the play. “It was just one of those things where we were going to sit there as long as they allowed us to.”
Spallina also said that they would be looking to get their feet back on the ground for Wednesday’s game against Manhattan, adding that he hoped to use more of the team’s bench players.
“We expected to be 1-0 after today, and we’re going to approach Manhattan like we approached this game,” Spallina said. “If the game is tight, then we’re going to run with our big dogs, but if the game is up and down, I feel that we have able bodies on the bench.”
