At first glance, the box score may indicate that Stony Brook women’s lacrosse had stiff competition in Jacksonville on Sunday afternoon. After all, the home Dolphins squad led in faceoffs 11-8, led in ground ball scoops 18-16 and had an equal number of fouls drawn (23-23).
Yet on this day, offensive execution mattered far more than possession numbers. The Seawolves were able to cruise to a 13-4 victory to bring their seasonal record to a perfect 5-0.
The 18th-ranked Seawolves were led by sophomore attacker Courtney Murphy, who had six goals and an assist on the afternoon. It was the sixth double hat trick of Murphy’s young SBU career and her first of the season.
Also contributing to the offense were sophomore midfielder Dorrien Van Dyke and senior midfielder Michelle Rubino, who each had two goals. Rubino added a game-high three assists and three draws controlled for the Seawolves.
Stony Brook started the game on a 3-0 run within the opening four minutes of the first half and never looked back. All game long, the Seawolves offense was moving the ball around and shooting at a high percentage. Stony Brook had a shooting percentage of 65 percent on the game, compared to just a 22 percent shooting percentage for Jacksonville.
The defense for the Seawolves was superb once again. The Dolphins entered the game averaging 15.3 goals per game, the eighth-highest scoring team in the nation, but they were simply stifled by the back lines of Stony Brook on Sunday.
The Seawolves have not allowed an opposing offense to score more than six goals in any game this season.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlyn Leahy stopped five of nine shots she faced in the game, with the defense forcing Jacksonville to miss the net completely on an additional nine shots.
Sally Holbert scored twice for Jacksonville, which drops to 6-2 this season with the loss.
On Tuesday, Stony Brook travels south within Florida from Jacksonville to Gainesville to play against the No. 6 Florida Gators. The Gators defeated the Seawolves 14-1 at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in the largest home loss of the Joe Spallina-era in their meeting last season.
