All season long, Stony Brook Men’s Lacrosse has underachieved. Whether coach Jim Nagle’s team is young, inexperienced, shy in the big moment or anything else, they have failed to get over the hump in tight games.
Five times this season, the Seawolves have lost by two goals or less. In each and every one of those games, turnovers, ball possession and a myriad of other reasons have either allowed the opposing team to stay in the game, or kept Stony Brook from finishing a comeback.
Vivid memories of a basketball-like drawn up play for Challen Rogers at the end of opening night against Marist resulted in a save, falling just short, analogous to many games this season. With the season now down to a win or go home scenario, falling short is no longer an option.
Stony Brook faces the most potent offense in the country tomorrow night in Albany, with three Thompsons looking to cause three times the harm for the Seawolves. Lyle and Miles, brothers, along with cousin Ty are not only amongst the three best players in the America East Conference, but near the top of the ladder in the entire country.
Lyle is possibly the best player in college lacrosse right now, gaining accolades left and right, and currently leads Albany with 98 points. One can go through all of their stats all day long but the bottom line is the Great Danes have a lethal offense. What is Stony Brook’s weakness? Defense, and that is not a good combination for Thursday night.
Senior George Benitez and company are the key to this game. If they can find a way to slow the Thompsons and the rest of the very explosive Great Danes from jumping out to an early lead, the Seawolves may be able to sink their teeth into this one.
Stony Brook has one of the best faceoff men in the country in freshman Kyle Rowe, and it is important for him to ensure possession off the “x” for the Seawolves. If Stony Brook can hold the ball, not be careless with turnovers and be patient, they will not have a problem scoring. There are a lot of “ifs” in this game, and if Stony Brook plays with nothing to lose, fans could be in for a good one.
