Lacrosse Opens Season with Strong Effort.
The men’s lacrosse team fell in a tough match up against #3 Virginia on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. by a final of 15-13.
Virginia came out strong, scoring the first four goals of the game. It wasn’t until 1:33 left in the first quarter when freshmen Jordan McBride finally put Stony Brook on the board. About 40 seconds later, Virginia scored again and ended the quarter up 6-2. ‘We started off slow,’ said head coach Rick Sowell.
After the seventh goal with 13.36 left in the second quarter, Sowell pulled starting goaltender Rob Camposa. ‘We needed to make a change,’ coach Sowell said. ‘We had to stop the bleeding.’ Alex Kajencki entered the game, and after giving up two quick goals, he finally settled in. Senior Ryan Hughes tallied three goals in the quarter and helped Stony Brook to finish the half down 10-7.
The Seawolves calmed down after halftime. ‘We came out and scored right away,’ coach Sowell said. Senior Bo Tripodi scored just 15 seconds into the third quarter. McBride scored two more and freshmen Kevin Crowley added a pair of goals to pull Stony Brook into a 12-12 tie by the end of the third. ‘The scoring was back and forth, every time we put up two, they put up one,’ Sowell said.
Only 12 seconds into the fourth quarter, Virginia jumped out on top. Stony Brook responded five minutes later when Ryan Hughes scored on a man-up possession. It took nearly eight minutes before Virginia scored what would be the go-ahead goal. ‘Alex made some great saves in the second half,’ Sowell said. He finished the game with 12 saves, 10 in the second half. Virginia tallied one more before the game came to an end.
Coach Sowell was very pleased with the effort put forth by the team. ‘This was a good first game,’ he said. ‘We fought for 60 minutes and came back against a great team.’ The Seawolves had their chances throughout the game. They tallied 39 shots with eight saves made by the Virginia goaltenders. Freshmen Jordan McBride and senior Ryan Hughes played huge parts in the game. ‘They were all over the place,’ Sowell said.
Stony Brook gained experience against a highly talented team and came out of the game with no injuries, which is always important. ‘There are no more moral victories,’ Sowell said. ‘It’s time to go get a W.’
Harvard Gets the Best of Seawolves
The same cold that brought the snow must have found its way into the Seawovles locker room on Saturday. Men’s lacrosse team fell in a sluggish 9-6 loss to Harvard at Jordan Field in Cambridge, Mass.
The game was delayed for two hours due to the snow, but the Crimson came out on fire, scoring the first three goals of the game within the first six minutes. Stony Brook responded with two goals less than two minutes apart. Freshman Jordan McBride assisted on Senior Bo Tripodi’s goal, his second of the year. Bobby Trenkle soon followed with a goal, his first of the year.
After struggling in his first collegiate start, Alex Kajencki was again between the pipes. He got off to another slow start, and ended the game with 10 saves. ‘Our two young spots were exposed, our face-offs and goaltending,’ said Head Coach Rick Sowell.
Harvard struck again early in the second quarter to take a 4-2 lead. Both teams were held scoreless for eight minutes until Senior Ryan Hughes was able to convert on the man advantage. After a slashing penalty was called on Harvard, coach Sowell called a timeout. ‘We called a set play. Hughes has been shooting the ball well, so we ran a play designed for him,’ Sowell said. Soon after, freshman Kevin Crowley scored to tie the game at four.
Coming out of the half, it was all Harvard. ‘We were rejuvenated. We tied it up at halftime, and made it a 0-0 score again,’ he said. They were able to score the only three goals of the quarter to take a 7-4 lead. ‘It was disappointing,’ he said.
Harvard would score two more goals to open the fourth quarter to take a 9-4 lead. Ryan Hughes was able to tally two more goals, but it wasn’t enough. Senior Owen Adams collected two assists on the day, and Rhys Duch tallied one.
Stony Brook recorded only 15 shots on goal. ‘We made losing plays. We made poor decisions and turned the ball over. That’s not going to win you games,’ said Sowell.
The Seawolves will be looking to get on the winning track next Saturday’s home opener against Siena. ‘We are looking forward to being home,’ Sowell said. Sienna is 2-0 and beat Harvard last weekend, 6-5. The game starts at noon at Kenneth P. Lavalle Stadium.
