The Stony Brook Seawolves fell heartbreakingly to the Fairfield Stags on Sunday afternoon, surrendering a penalty kick in the 85th minute to lose 3-2 in an NCAA Women’s Soccer non-conference matchup at Lessing Field in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Anna Borea slotted the penalty past Stony Brook goalkeeper Ashley Castanio for her third goal of the season, and the Stags completed the comeback from a goal down at halftime to give the Seawolves their second loss in as many games.
Stony Brook falls to 2-5 on the season with the loss. Castanio was great again in net, recording eight saves but was stuck with the loss. The Stags opened the scoring in the eighth minute, when Megan O’Brien with her first goal of the season to give Fairfield an early 1-0 lead. Jessica Broadbent sent in a corner and O’Brien was able to rise above the defense and head it home.
Stony Brook answered 17 minutes later when Regan Bosnyak was able to put her first of the season into the net. This goal also came off a corner in the 25th minute, as Tessa Deveraux played it into the box and Bosnyak was able to head it past Fairfield goalkeeper Kathleen Early to tie the game at one.
The Seawolves took the lead in the 41st minute when Gabi Rosenfeld slotted her first goal of the season into a wide open net. Early came out to defend a cross and missed it, and Rosenfeld was able to put it home to give Stony Brook the 2-1 advantage. This was an advantage that would be sustained to the halftime break.
The Stags were able to get a pair of second half goals to solidify the victory and improve to 6-1-1 on the season. They are now undefeated in six consecutive matches, posting a 5-0-1 record.
The Seawolves lead was no more in the 58th minute, when Emily Wieczorek scored her first goal of the season. The ball was deflected in the box and she was able to put it home into the far side of the net to make it 2-2. A foul in the box in the 84th minute set up Borea’s 85th minute penalty kick winner.
Stony Brook was able to generate pressure in the second half, recording 10 shots and four corner kicks, but were not able to convert on any of them. They were only able to put four of those shots on net, and Early was able to keep the ball out of the net.
The game was shot filled, as Fairfield was able to record 22 of them and Stony Brook put up 16. The Stags put 11 shots on the goal and the Seawolves put seven on net. Stony Brook was also very physical in this game, recording 12 fouls while just drawing five. Each team was caught offsides just once.
Stony Brook will finish off its non-conference slate in the next week, with a Thursday night road game and a Sunday afternoon game at LaValle Stadium. Both of these games are against teams from New York City. The St. John’s Red Storm will play host to the Seawolves on Thursday night. Kickoff in Queens is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Fordham Rams will head out to Long Island to take on Stony Brook on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the non-conference finale for the Seawolves.
