The Stony Brook women’s soccer team began its season with high expectations. Although they proceed to lose two out of their first three games, they are still confident in where their season is headed.
On August 22, the Seawolves lost 1-0 C.W. Post. In the loss, junior goalkeeper Marisa Viola made seven saves. Unable to overcome an early first half goal, the Seawolves scrambled for an attempt at the tying goal, outshooting the Blackbirds 13-7 in the second half. Assistant Coach Steve Welham expressed disappointment with the loss.
‘Sure, the LIU game was a little disappointing since we felt we completely dominated the second half and limited their scoring opportunities.’
On August 28, the Seawolves then traveled to New Rochelle, N.Y., where they faced Iona. Stony Brook picked up its first win of the season, defeating Iona 1-0. Viola picked up her 17th career shutout, moving her to second all-time on the program’s list. In the twenty third minute, senior Trine Allenberg picked up the only goal of the afternoon off a pass from freshman Colleen McKenna.
‘Our team responded well against Iona and received a positive result,’ Welham said about the game. ‘The score line could have easily been 3-0 us.’
To close out the month of August, the Seawolves continued on to the second game of a three game road trip to Providence, Rhode Island, where they were defeated 2-0.
The Seawolves gave up an early goal, as Tara Ricciardi of Providence scored just 10 minutes into the game. Stony Brook had opportunities late in the game to tie it, but Providence goalkeeper Jill Schott denied Kate Collins from inside the penalty marker. Also, freshman Dominique Adamo had a chance to tie it for the Seawolves, but her shot from inside the eighteen yard box was deflected away by a Providence defender.
In the 76th minute, Ricciardi would ice it for Providence, scoring her second goal on a penalty kick.
Although the team would have liked to have gotten off to a better start, Welham is pleased with where they are as a team right now. Despite being a very young team, the Seawolves look forward to the challenges that lay in front of them.
‘Right now we are a young team that is growing,’ Welham said. ‘We can have anywhere between six and eight freshmen and sophomores playing at one time, so we know that there needs to be time for a learning curve to take place. As a coaching staff we feel that this year’s freshmen class has brought us depth and stability not only for right now but moving forward in the future.’
‘We definitely have a young team at the moment,’ Welham said. ‘Our seniors (Brooke Barbuto and Allenberg) are doing a good job helping to lead us as well.’
With a tough America East schedule ahead, Welham said that Stony Brook embraces matches with high level non-conference opponents, such as Boston College and Hofstra.
‘Every game is a chance to learn and find out a little more about ourselves and what we can do, everything leading up to conference play,’ he said. ‘We are looking to take one game at a time.’
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