The UMass-Lowell River Hawks came into their Sunday afternoon matchup with the Stony Brook Seawolves losing their first 10 games of the season. But it was important for the Seawolves to not over look this game. “You have to learn very early how to fear no one but respect everyone” 29th year Coach Sue Ryan said after the game. “Our goal is to protect our home turf” she added, and that’s what the Seawolves did on Sunday, defeating the River Hawks 1-0 to improve to 7-3-1 on the season.
The Seawolves are now 2-0 in conference play, which ties them atop the conference with Maine.
The scoring was provided from a consistent source this year, Larissa Nysch, as she recorded her sixth goal and 13th point of the season, both of which lead all America East players.
The goal was scored at the 8:25 mark when Shannon Grogan was just inside the box on the left wing and crossed it into Nysch, who flicked it towards the far post and the ball went off of it and into the net. It looked like it was going to be a rout, but was far from it.“We scored our goal and then took our foot off the petal a little bit” Coach Ryan said.“Getting that second goal is very important. We want to put the game out of reach,” she added. The Seawolves outshot UMass-Lowell 9-6 in the first half, and the game was competitive at 1-0.
Coach Ryan told her team at halftime that they needed to keep their foot on down in the second half and finish them. “I think that gave us a different perspective going into the second half”.
It definitely did, as the Seawolves dominated, outshooting the River Hawks 11-2, with six of those on goal. Stony Brook also had six corners in the second half, but the domination came with a price as Nysch collided with Seija Snorradottir as both girls went up for a header in the box and Larissa got the worst of it. She walked off under her own power, but with her nose covered and had to be taken to a doctor.
Both the weather and the game were sloppy, as there was a slight drizzle all game and 22 fouls were committed by both teams, 15 of those by the Seawolves. “As a coach you love these games. You want your kids to play in all sorts of environments” Coach Ryan said.
Ashley Castanio had a relatively easy day in net, only facing eight shots and making two saves for her second solo shutout of the season. She had a third earlier in the year when her and Danielle Singson combined for one against Fairleigh Dickinson.
The Seawolves next match for the Seawolves is a rematch of the 2012 America East Championship, as they head to Hartford to take on the Hawks at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hartford was the preseason pick to win the conference, while the Seawolves were picked to finish second.
