(Article by Kyril Kotlovsky)
The Stony Brook women’s soccer team came into its game Thursday night against the Maine Black Bears desperately needing a win. The team found its answer off the foot of Dominique Adamo.
“We knew we had to win,” the Seawolves’ junior midfielder and leading scorer said. “This win couldn’t be any more important.”
Adamo beat Bear’s goalkeeper Meagan Price-Leibenzeder twice during the game.
Sophomore Sa’sha Kershaw assisted on the early goal, sending Adamo into space along the right side. Adamo sent in a high ball that came off the hands of the goalkeeper and dropped into the far corner of the goal.
Maine followed up the goal with an equalizer just 13 minutes later, when Kelsey Wilson tucked a penalty kick inside the left post.
The Seawolves, however, ended the first half on the right side of the stat sheet when Adamo converted a free kick opportunity from just outside the box. It was her 6th goal of the season, and it helped the Seawolves (5-9-2, 4-2-1 AEC) clinch a playoff berth.
“It was huge to score early and then right before the half,” head coach Sue Ryan said. “Playing with the lead is so important.”
Stony Brook never trailed in the game, due in large part to goalkeeper Chelsea Morales. Morales, a freshman, came away with the save of the night when her dive knocked away a shot by the Black Bear’s Nikki Mesener from just feet outside of the goal. Morales would end the night with two saves, compared to Leibenzeder’s four, but was credited by Adamo for, “stepping up her game, and coming off the line strong.”
In addition to lauding Adamo by calling her “the quintessential midfielder,” coach Ryan praised her players’ defense after the game, emphasizing the importance of defending as a team.
“We are a balanced team,” she said. “We defend as a team. Our midfield is scoring goals and forwards are stepping up their play. We don’t have a traditional system here.”
Now that Stony Brook has clinched the playoffs, the Seawolves will look to climb up the American East ladder by playing host to Binghamton this Sunday.
The game will mark the end of the regular season for the Seawolves, who have won five of their last eight games, including four out of seven in the America East.
