A second-half rally by the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team on Friday night forced the game into extra time where freshman midfielder Matt Robison buried a shot to give Stony Brook a 9-8 win over the Hartford Hawks.
This win marks the second- straight overtime win for the Seawolves as they also defeated Binghamton last week. With the two latest wins, the Seawolves were able to clinch the second seed in the upcoming America East tournament.
After putting themselves in a difficult situation, down 8-4 at half time, the Seawolves regrouped and took control. They went on to put forth an absolutely dominant second half effort and completed the comeback win.
The Seawolves fought their way back into the game by scoring five unanswered goals with the fifth being the overtime winner.
The one-sided second-half was really exemplified by the fact that the Hawks were held scoreless for the final 40-plus minutes of the game. Robison, a freshman for Stony Brook, played the role of hero as he scored the overtime goal on a nifty up and down fake, finally going low to beat the goalie.
He finished the night with just the one goal which was only his second in his young college career. Hartford had its push in the first half when the Hawks came out scoring seven goals in the first 17 minutes.
They took a 7-2 lead and from there felt they could take their foot off the gas pedal and play defense. Once the Hawks relaxed, however, they could never get back into rhythm. For the Seawolves, it was an opportunity to take advantage.
The Hawks had just over a minute left to hold off the Seawolves, but Stony Brook sophomore Ryan Blitzer forced overtime with the game-tying goal with 1:07 left.
Senior attackman Mike Rooney provided the Seawolves with a game high in both points and goals, finishing with seven points from four goals and three assists.
He was the catalyst for the team contributing on seven of nine goals.
The defense of Stony Brook was spectacular causing Hartford to turn the ball over a total of 20 times throughout the game. The defense also limited Hartford to low-quality shots that were turned away nicely by sophomore goalie Hayden Johnstone.
He finished the night with five saves, four of which came in the second half. Hartford’s Kevin O’Shea had a team-high four goals on the night.
He was the only multi-goal scorer for the Hawks, but ultimately he could not do enough to hold on for the win.
Stony Brook will now move on to the America East tournament where the Seawolves will play their semifinal against Vermont on Thursday, April 30 at SUNY Albany.
