After coming away with an easy win over Manhattan in its season opener last weekend, the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team looked to improve to 2-0 on Saturday when the team, traveled to Queens to take on St. John’s.
The Seawolves received a great game from junior attacker Brody Eastwood, but his efforts were not enough to help SBU avoid its first loss the year, as the Red Storm came away with a 13-8 victory.
The game initially looked like it could be another easy win for Stony Brook, as the Seawolves jumped out to 3-0 lead in the first quarter. Eastwood had two of his three goals in the opening 15 minutes.
The Red Storm scored its first goal two minutes into the second quarter on a goal by junior midfielder Chris Hughes.
Hughes’ goal was followed by a goal from senior attacker Stefan Diachenko, the first of his four. Stony Brook ended the half with goals by junior attacker Matt Schultz and Eastwood, which allowed the Seawolves to take a 6-4 lead into the intermission.
After senior midfielder Mike Rooney scored his second goal of the game two minutes into the third, the Red Storm responded with two goals of its own.
Schultz then scored his second goal of the game with 7:22 remaining in the third, extending SBU’s lead to 8-6. That was the last Seawolves score of the afternoon.
With less than two minutes to go in the third, the Red Storm started a 7-0 run, when redshirt junior James Bonanno found the back of the net.
Then freshman Jason DeBendictis tied up the contest before the end of the quarter. In the fourth, Diachenko scored three goals.
The Red Storm’s run was finally finished once junior attacker Eric DeJohn scored his second consecutive goal, making the game 13-8.
The high note for the Seawolves was definitely Eastwood, who collected his 18th hat trick of his career. Rooney and Schultz finished the game with two goals apiece. Stony Brook also went 3-of-5 on extra man opportunities.
The Seawolves will look to rebound in their next game this Friday at home against NJIT. After that, they will continue their home stand when they welcome Duke on Sunday.
