A game-winning goal in double overtime spoiled the first America East conference match for Stony Brook Men’s Soccer as they fell 2-1 to Vermont Saturday night in Burlington, Vermont.
Vermont senior forward Brian Wright received a cross from graduate student midfielder Charlie DeFeo, netting a game-winning one-timer to the right side of the goal in the 106th minute of double overtime to give the Catamounts the win.
The Seawolves controlled play throughout the first and the second half. Offensively, they scored on a late goal, giving them the lead in the 74th minute of play.
After junior defenseman Danny Espinoza sent a cross to the top of the box, junior forward Vince Erdei chased the ball down and cracked it into the left side of the net for his fifth goal of the season.
Stony Brook went back to playing defensively after its goal, and continued to focus on reaching the 90 minute mark and escaping the match in a hostile environment with victory. That dream was crushed, ironically, in the 90th minute.
They kept the top two scorers in the conference, senior forward Bernard Yeboah and Wright, scoreless until Wright’s game winner. Despite giving up 24 shots, only nine were on target and it looked like the Seawolves were going to shut out the Catamounts.
With just 47 seconds left in the game, Vermont was awarded a penalty kick opportunity. Graduate student defenseman Loftur Eriksson buried the ball in the bottom right corner of the net, while redshirt junior goalkeeper Tom McMahon dove to the wrong side.
The final whistle blew, and while Stony Brook hoped to leave the field with victory, the team had another task to face: winning in overtime. The rest is history, as the first overtime period had no goals.
Despite the loss, Erdei has been on a goal-scoring tear as of late. The go-ahead goal against the Catamounts gave him his fourth goal in three matches.
The Seawolves look forward to a week of rest and practices before lacing up their boots for their third home game of the season. They will continue conference play with a matchup against New Hampshire on Saturday, Oct. 8th at 7 p.m. at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.
