The weather did not cause a lack of scoring. The Seawolves added to their America East lead in scoring as they won their first game of the season, beating the Siena Saints 17-15 at Kenneth P. Lavalle Stadium on Saturday.
“It feels good to get our first win,” Head Coach Rick Sowell said. “It’s good to get that first one under our belt.” Stony Brook exploded with 17 goals in the game. Four players had three goals each, and every midfielder and attacker starter had at least one goal.
Siena jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but Stony Brook responded with five unanswered goals, four in the final four minutes of the first quarter, and one to open up the second. Sophomore Mike Palmer recorded his first goal of the season to begin the scoring for the Seawolves.
Siena scored four goals of its own to even the score at five until freshman Jordan McBride broke the tie with an assist from freshman Kevin Crowley. McBride tallied three goals along with two assists for the game, while fellow Canadian Crowley scored three goals of his own with three assists. The scoring continued back and fourth, and the half ended in a tie at eight.
Sophomore Rob Camposa replaced Alex Kajencki at goal to start the second half. Kanjencki ended the half with three saves. “These goaltenders are close. Both have their own strengths and weaknesses,” Sowell said. “We are going to need better play overall out of our goaltenders, however.”
The goaltender change didn’t affect the scoring seesaw. Siena took the lead early in the third quarter. Ten seconds later, Senior Rhys Duch scored his second of the game. Duch finished with three goals on the day.
Physical play and penalties were not lacking in the game. “The penalties gave more opportunities to a solid team,” Sowell said. “They hung in the game because of the man advantages. Penalties come from aggressive play. Some teams feel that hacking and taking penalties will help later on in the game. We want physical and aggressive play, but nine penalties are a lot for anyone.” Stony Brook accounted for nine penalties and Siena five. Siena was 3-9 on the man advantage, while Stony Brook was 2-5.
The game continued to go back and forth until late in the fourth quarter when Senior Bo Tripodi scored off oa feed from Rhys Duch. Tripodi’s goal would prove to be the game winner. He also tallied another one late in the game to seal the game for the Seawolves.
Stony Brook will travel to Newark, Delaware to take on the Delaware Blue Hens, who are #9 in the nation. Delaware holds a 5-0 record and is coming off a thrilling triple overtime win against #16 Albany. “They are big, physical and confident,” Sowell said. “I think we will get our opportunities, but we will have to convert on them. We will also need big games from our goaltenders and defense.” The game begins Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
