Coming into the game having won five of their last six, and having scored at least ten goals in each of those games, the young Seawolves were looking to cap the season with an America East championship and an NCAA Tournament berth.
Standing in their ways was the UMBC Retrievers, the only other America East team to beat Stony Brook this season. UMBC was also the last team to hold the Seawolves under 10 goals.
After struggling mightily through the first three quarters, a four-goal fourth quarter was not enough to get the Seawolves back into a game they trailed 10-3 entering the final quarter.
Junior Rob Camposa, again subbing for the injured Charlie Parr, was under attack for most of the first 45 minutes. UMBC out-shot the Seawolves 44-15 through three quarters, controlling the ball and not allowing Stony Brook’s offense to get into a rhythm.
Jordan McBride was held without a goal for the first time all season, and finished the season with 42 goals, good for 8th all-time in Seawolves history.
Kevin Crowley picked up the slack, scoring four goals. Crowley passed McBride as the teams leading scorer on the season, finishing with 28 goals and 23 assists.
Without the strong play of Camposa the Seawolves would not have had a chance to make a comeback in the fourth quarter.
UMBC out-shot the Seawolves 18-4 in the first quarter, and Seawolves face-off specialist Adam Rand uncharacteristically lost five of seven face-offs. After the Seawolves took a 2-1 lead with 9:56 remaining in the first quarter, Stony Brook could not solve America East player of the year Jeremy Blevins for 35:23.
The Seawolves offense came into the week 12th in the nation in scoring, averaging 11 goals per game. But the UMBC offense was their best defense. Controlling the ball for large chunks of time, Stony Brook never looked to be in sync.
With only two seniors on the roster, Tyler Eason and Nick Maturro, the Seawolves attack returns all of its starters to a team now loaded with post-season experience. Unfortunately they’ll have to wait until next season to get any NCAA tournament experience.
