The wins have been hard to come by for head coach Jim Nagle and the Seawolves.
After picking up its first win of the season against Delaware on March 10, Stony Brook lost both of its games last week, losing to St. John’s 11-9 last Tuesday and following that up with a 10-9 loss to Towson four days later.
Junior Jeff Tundo lead the Seawolves with four goals and two assists over the two games, while junior goalkeeper Sean Brady made 21 saves playing in both games.
Stony Brook and St. John’s would play close to the vest. After St. John’s Kevin Cernuto scored 1:51 into the game, neither team would hold a lead of more than one goal until the fourth quarter.
With 6:12 left in the game, St. John’s Kieran McArdle capitalized off of a rebound that Stony Brook junior goalkeeper Sean Brady was unable to control to make the score 10-8.
“It kind of was trickling in front of the net, knocking in between guys’ feet,” said Brady, who made 14 saves in the game. “People were knocking it back and forth, it ended up in front of the crease, and the guy just scooped it up and put it in the net when I was on the ground.”
Stony Brook got back to within one with a goal from senior Robbie Campbell at the 4:21 mark, but McArdle would score again with 2:58 left in the game to give the Red Storm an insurance goal.
Against Towson, Stony Brook staged a comeback that would fall just inches short.
After scoring only three goals during the second and third quarters and finding themselves down by four with less than six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Stony Brook’s offense woke up.
Sophomore Matt Bellando would score two goals in 16 seconds, and red-shirt freshman Mike Rooney scored less then a minute later to bring Stony Brook to within one with 3:59 to go in the game.
With one second left, freshman Nick Watson took a shot that Towson goalkeeper Andrew Wascavage saved.
The ball trickled through and fell close to the goal, but the referee ruled that the ball did not enter the line.
“I think the whole [ball] was across the line,” Nagle said. “That’s what it looked like from my perspective.”
Stony Brook, now 1-5, will travel to take on Siena next Tuesday and will also play Bryant in an away match next Saturday before starting America East conference play against Vermont on March 31.
“I like our team, but it’s difficult,” Nagle said. “It’s Division- I athletics. You can’t just try; you have to commit to a system of fundamentals, and that is where we got to go.”
