Friday night marked the beginning of head coach Brendan Faherty’s tenure at the helm of Stony Brook Women’s Soccer, the program’s first new coach in 25 years. The spirit was high, and the Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium crowd was loud, as the team entered a new era, opening its 2016 regular season campaign against Bryant.

But Rome wasn’t built in a day.

A scoreless game as the teams entered the second half of overtime, the game seemed destined to end in a draw.

With less than two minutes in the golden-goal session, freshman forward Remi Manna tapped a game-winning goal into the right side of the net. The Seawolves fell to the Bulldogs in devastating, 1-0 fashion.

“I thought we came out and did some good things to start with,” Faherty said. “As the game went on I think Bryant got better and we struggled a little bit.”

Despite losing the game, Stony Brook was much more aggressive and more successful at getting open shots. The Seawolves had 23 shots compared to the Bulldogs’ 10, and had eight shots on goal compared to the Bulldogs’ three.

Junior Shannon Robinson was in goal for Stony Brook instead of classmate Emily Doherty, who started the most games in net for the team in 2015.

Despite being a junior, Robinson was playing her first collegiate game for Stony Brook after suffering injuries in her first two seasons.

Though she did let up the game-winning goal, she did not allow a goal across the first 108 minutes of the game.

The team’s defense, particularly the back line, was on top of its game up until the game-ending goal, holding Bryant to just three shots on goal. The defensive unit did not allow a shot on goal until the 59th minute.

“Today it wasn’t really about defending,” Faherty said. “For us it was what we could do with the ball, and I think all of our players struggled.”

The Stony Brook attack was consistent throughout the game in terms of aggression, but the ball could not find the back of the net. Bryant senior goalkeeper Kaylan Conrad was spotless in her shut-out performance, saving seven shots on goal.

“We just need to be a little more confident, not settle for shots from thirty yards, and get some more people in front of the goal to finish off those crosses.”

Faherty and the Seawolves will look to bounce back on Sunday when they take on the Sacred Heart Pioneers in a home match at 3 p.m.