After winning one of three games in the ACHA showcase last week, Stony Brook split a pair of games against defending national champion Delaware over the weekend, winning on Saturday night 8-3 and losing on Sunday afternoon 3-2.
“We’ve always had trouble against them, they’ve always put a great team out,” assistant captain and senior forward Daniel Cassano said. “We felt we had something to prove, there’s definitely some bad blood there between us.”
On Saturday, Stony Brook scored first. At the 9:15 mark of the first period, captain and senior forward Mike Cacciotti received a pass from sophomore forward Nick Barbera on the powerplay and buried a one-timer shot past Delaware goalie Nick Casella.
At the 5:12 mark, Cacciotti extended the lead to 2-0, with a wrist shot over the glove of Casella.
Delaware pulled back 2-1 at the 1:29 mark, when Ryan Sterrett slipped a shot between freshman goalie Brendan Jones’ legs.
With 37 seconds left in the period, Delaware’s Mark Zeszut shot at the left top corner, past the glove of Jones, to tie the game.
Stony Brook would get the lead back in at the 7:12 mark of the second period, with another powerplay goal from Cacciotti.
“Everything I touched seemed to find the back of the net,” Cacciotti said. “Cassano, Hawkins, they made it pretty easy for me to score some goals.”
With 4:52 left in the period, sophomore forward Vincent Lopes got behind the defense and after receiving a pass from Cacciotti, scored on a breakaway to make it 4-2.
In the third period, Delaware pulled back 4-3 after Casey Jouaneau scored on a scrum in front of the Stony Brook net.
Barbera, however, would score the next two goals to put the game out of reach, scoring on a breakaway at the 14:45 mark, and then scoring on the powerplay at the 10:29 mark.
Senior forward Sean Collins and Cassano would complete the scoring for Stony Brook.
“I’m very proud of the guys,” head coach Chris Garofalo said after the game. “Not only did we get the win, we made a statement.”
At the 14:09 mark of the third period, a fight broke out between sophomore forward Sam Brewster and Delaware’s Nicholas LePore, with both players exchanging punches. LePore was ejected from the game as a result.
On Sunday, Delaware changed goalies, giving the start to S.J. Broadt over Casella.
Stony Brook’s Collins opened the scoring at the 17:19 mark of the first period on the powerplay, burying a rebound on a shot from junior forward Wesley Hawkins.
Delaware’s Christopher Volonnino would tie the game at the 14:55 mark, sneaking past the Stony Brook defense and deking Jones, the Seawolves’ goalie.
Stony Brook’s Cassano got the lead back after burying a breakaway at the 11:47 mark of the second period.
Delaware would again tie the game at the 7:55 mark of the period, after a screen shot from Kevin Redmond found its way past Jones.
Delaware scored the winner late in the third period. With only 1:31 left in the game, Delaware’s Zeszut scored on the powerplay, burying the puck after a shot from Delaware’s Micheal Piet hit the crossbar.
Sunday’s game was a chippy affair, with a total of 26 penalties called between the two teams.
“The ref did not have control of that game to be honest with you,” Garofalo said. “I’m not saying he cost us the game, but to tell you the truth, I think this level is too high for the ref.”
Delaware’s Christian Tasker received a five minute major and a game misconduct at the 10:54 mark of the first period after fighting with Stony Brook’s Josh Brooks
At the 3:08 mark, Delaware’s Matthew Santucci also was given a five minute major and a game misconduct after a dangerous boarding check to Stony Brook’s Lopes.
“We didn’t capitalize on our powerplay, and it cost us the game, it’s as simple as that,” Garofalo said. “We out-played them, we out-shot them, but we have to capitalize, we had two five minute majors.”
Now with a 2-4 record, Stony Brook next plays Rutgers, travelling to New Jersey next weekend. Garofalo said that planned to make some changes on the team’s powerplay over the coming week’s practices.
“I might mix up the two units I have and see what works better,” Garofalo said. “But right now, I got to think about it with my assistant coach, I’m not sure yet.”
