On a chilly and windy night, Stony Brook Men’s Soccer took away an overtime victory against the University of Albany with a score of 2-1 Saturday night at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.
“It was a good way to start off conference play with a win against a good Albany team,” head coach Ryan Anatol said postgame. “We we wanted to come out of this game with a good performance, and a win if possible. We got both, so that’s a plus.”
With less than 30 seconds to go in the second overtime period, sophomore midfielder Thibault Duval got the ball inside the box, saw his opportunity and took it.
He ripped a shot past the goalkeeper, the ball hits the back of the net, and the crowd exploded into cheers and applause.
“I thought I was playing poorly this game, and that goal definitely helped me with my confidence,” Duval said. “Mostly, I’m happy for the team. It was an important win, especially for it being the first conference game of the season.”
The game started off well for Stony Brook, with senior forward Martin Giordano scoring his fifth goal of the season fourteen seconds into the game off a shot 25 yards out off the post.
This also gave Giordano a career-high 13 points on the season.
“He’s gotten better over the years,” Anatol said about his senior forward. “He’s one of our leading goal scorers, we keep playing him higher up in the field and he has really taken responsibility for the team as whole.”
The lead was held for a little bit, until senior midfielder Afonso Pinheiro scored on a left-footed shot from 25 yards out and into the upper left corner.
A big factor in tonight’s game was the wind.
“We talked about the wind before the game,” Anatol said when discussing the strategy for the game. “It was difficult to change plans with the wind at halftime. We made sure to keep it safe with the defense and goal kicks when the wind was coming at us. On the other hand, when we had the wind, I told the guys to press and keep them pinned in their half.”
The Seawolves have won two straight games.
“It definitely has been keeping us motivated, and this win boosts our confidence more,” Anatol said. “This game really speaks well for us. Albany is a good team so it’s nice to pull out a win against this group and we hope to keep our performance up.”
