In the last home game before perennial contender and conference rival Westchester comes to the Rinx, the Seawolves ice hockey team routed an overwhelmed Lehigh team 14-0.
Derek Stevens picked up his first shutout of the season in a game that was never in question, but got completely out of hand in the third period.
“We’re starting to get there,” Stevens said about the teams play. “We’re starting to come around as a team. It looks like we’re getting back on the right track, but I don’t think we’re there yet.
The Seawolves scored seven goals in the final frame, capped by an Angelo Serse goal with 5:59 remaining. Serse also scored the games opening goal five minutes in.
In between Stony Brook barraged the Lehigh goalie with 53 shots.
“We’re really coming together,” Assistant Coach Pete Hall said. “Early in the season it was one or two guy’s scorings, now it’s coming from all the lines.”
Ryan Hodkinson was one of those players. He scored his first goal of the season during the third.
“It felt good after going eight games without scoring,” he said. “Felt good to finally bury a goal.”
He also spoke of how he though the team was playing.
“We’re working to it,” he said. “Everybody’s starting to work better together and everything is starting to mesh together.”
The Seawolves special team play was impeccable. The power play was a perfect five for five, and the penalty killing unit was able to kill off the time every time the team went down a man.
Serse, Mauricio Torres, and Dan Capizzutto led the team with four points. John Wong and freshman Chris Ryan also contributed two goals each.
The game was not extremely physical except for a few skirmishes. Stevens got penalized two minutes for slashing after he hacked at a Lehigh player’s leg who had fallen on top of him and took his time to get up.
Serse may have set the tone for his team early. After partially avoiding a flying hit, Serse gave the Lehigh player a few extra shots and stood over him, taunting.
General Manager Chris Garofalo was pleased with the team’s performance today, as well as how the team has rebounded from its slow start.
“We got the first month out of our way,” Garofalo said. “Playing teams like Liberty and in the showcase, it’s hard. I’m really excited; the team is finally starting to click.”
