The Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team faced a challenge that they haven’t had to confront very often this season in their 11-9 win over Yale. That challenge: a deficit.

Since facing Florida on March 1, the Seawolves have knocked off every team on their schedule by at least 10 goals. With no indication of slowing down beforehand, Stony Brook found themselves down 9-8 with just less than 12 minutes left in the game.

For a very young team, it was the elder statesmen who stepped up to extend the Seawolves’ winning streak to eight.

In a quiet game for star freshmen scorers Dorrien Van Dyke and Courtney Murphy, it was old reliable, junior Michelle Rubino, who carried the team to victory.

As the Seawolves were down 9-7 in the second half, Rubino knotted things up with two consecutive goals and later contributed another to put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.

With five goals on the day, Rubino, who is known for her constant effort in every situation, also scooped up two ground balls. The 5:37 stretch toward the end of the second half in which Rubino scored three times was the difference in the game.

Senior Alyssa Cardillo and freshman Kristin Yevoli both added two goals to the effort, with senior Emily Mercier and freshman Courtney Murphy scoring one apiece.

Notably off the score sheet for the Seawolves was freshman phenom Dorrien Van Dyke, the highest-scoring freshman in the country.

Coach Joe Spallina, recently happy with what he has considered good defensive performance, will look to get the Seawolves back on track as they take on Albany on Saturday. After giving up more goals than they did to anybody but Florida, it will be of the utmost importance to shore up the defensive end before they take on the Great Danes.