Three goals apiece from freshman Brody Eastwood and senior Jeff Tundo were not enough as the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team dropped its season opener at Marist 13-9.
The Seawolves jumped out to a 4-0 lead early on, and led 8-5 with 1:58 left in the second quarter. The Seawolves were then held scoreless for the rest of the quarter and most of the third.
Marist took advantage of Stony Brook’s offensive struggles in the second half and scored five unanswered goals to take its first lead of the game, 9-8, with 5:12 left in the third. The Red Foxes led 10-8 after a goal by Mike Begley’s goal. A goal by freshman Matt Schultz’s cut it to 10-9, but Marist answered with three straight to end the game.
Four players finished with hat tricks for Marist. Conner Rice, Jack Doherty, Jim Marks, and Begley all finished the game with three goals apiece. Rice and Doherty also added three assists apiece as well.
Stony Brook outshot Marist 31-28 for the game, but was outshot 14-11 in the second half. Marist had a total of 31 groundballs in the game compared to 29 by the Seawolves.
Despite the loss, the Seawolves can be happy about their strong ball movement in the first half. Six of Stony Brook’s eight first-half goals were assisted.
Stony Brook can also take solace in the fact that five of their nine goals came from freshmen. Schultz and Eastwood combined for five goals and 11 shots in the game.
Freshman midfielder Frank Lucatuorto was also impressive in his collegiate debut, winning 15 of 24 draws. He tallied a game-high eight ground balls.
Senior Jeff Tundo not only had a hat trick on the day, but also added an assist and five shots on net. He has tallied three points in three straight games now, and four out of this last five going back to last season. Junior Cole Millican also had a career high three assists on the day.
Despite leading the all-time series, 12-4, Stony Brook has dropped two straight games to Marist, including last year’s 10-9 loss in Stony Brook.
Stony Brook will head to Pennsylvania to face Lafayette this Tuesday. Then on Saturday at noon the Seawolves will play their home opener versus Virginia.
The Seawolves were originally supposed to have their home opener against Fairfield on Feb. 11, but the game was cancelled due to the weather.
