The Stony Brook Seawolves football team has been hard at work in training camp since Aug. 6 in preparation for the season, which begins Sep. 1. The team will play host to Georgetown, and a large crowd is expected, with the students alone expected to number in the thousands. Last year, Stony Brook fell to Georgetown on the road, by a score of 7-0.
This will be a year of transition for the team. They have left the Northeast Conference (NEC), and will play this year as an independent team, before joining the Big South Conference in 2008. This year’s schedule will feature some traditional NEC rivals, such as SUNY rival Albany, and Central Connecticut State University, the team that defeated SBU in last year’s finale, robbing them of a 2nd-straight conference championship. This year’s homecoming game will be against Maine, on Oct. 20, which will begin a 3-game homestand. They will play Long Island rival Hofstra, as well as do some unprecedented traveling, playing games in locations as far away as Ohio and North Carolina. However, this will become a fact of life next year, when they have conference games on the road.
The team’s head coach will be Chuck Priore, now in his second season at SBU. The team features 2 captains; quarterback Josh Dudash, and defensive lineman Kyle Brown. Both are seniors, and in their final season. Among Dudash’s awards last year is the Stony Brook Male Athlete of the Year. Brown is coming off a knee injury that ended his 2006 “senior” season, and he returns via medical redshirt.
Many more of SBU’s stars are returning this season. Wide receivers Dwane Eley and Lynell Suggs, who led the team in receiving yards last year, will both be returning. Cory Giddings, last year’s freshman sensation, will return at cornerback. Giddings won the NEC Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Conte Cuttino, another standout 2006 freshman, will be returning at running back, along with junior Steve Austin.
2007 looks to be a promising year for Stony Brook Football. Kickoff for the first game is Sep. 1, at 6PM, at LaValle Stadium.
