At one time down by seven, the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team vied for a major comeback. Midfielders senior Alex Corpolongo and freshman Wayne White scored a pair of goals 43 seconds apart to cut the lead to 10-7 with 7:11 remaining in the contest.
The Seawolves’ push for victory in the final quarter ultimately fell short as they ran out of time, falling to Hofstra Tuesday night by a score of 11-9 at James H. Shuart Stadium.
After getting off to the team’s best start in program history with a 4-0 record, Stony Brook has lost three straight games, bringing their record to 4-3 on the season.
The Seawolves dug themselves into a hole as they were down 10-3 at one point in the third quarter. The fourth quarter of play was a different ball game as the team was able to outscore No. 4 Hofstra, 5-1, to bring the deficit within two.
The team’s leading scorer on the season, Corpolongo, was quiet throughout most of the game, until crunch time. On an extra man opportunity, junior midfielder Derek Lloyd found the offensive guru in the middle of the field, and Corpolongo promptly beamed a bounce shot into the back of the net with 7:53 to go in the fourth, bringing the score to 10-6.
Corpolongo completed a hat trick on the day, increasing his total goals on the season to 19 through seven games.
Senior attackman Ryan Bitzer did not allow his team to go down without a fight either, recording six points on the day.
Bitzer found White on a pass from behind the net to set him up for the easy score that capped off a 4-0 run, which made the game 10-7 with 7:11 remaining. The Seawolves run forced Hofstra head coach Seth Tierney to call a timeout.
On the verge of mounting a major comeback, the Seawolves were silenced by freshman attackman Ryan Tierney who recorded his fourth goal of the game with 4:29 left to play.
Tierney faked going to his right then quickly went left toward the middle of the field, creating space against sophomore defenseman James Gerstner. Finishing with his left hand, Tierney crushed the Seawolves with a rifle goal making the score 11-7.
Stony Brook scored two more goals in the remaining minutes, including one from Corpolongo with 1:23 left to go. However, the team eventually fell short to Hofstra,11-9.
Junior goalkeeper Brandon Maciejewski played the first 25 minutes of the game until being replaced by freshman Michael Bollinger for the remaining time in the game.
Stony Brook recorded more shots on goal than Hofstra, 26-21, but 17 saves by junior goalkeeper Jack Concannon proved to be the difference in the stat line.
The Pride were able to control the offensive side of the ball throughout the game as senior midfielder Kris Clarke was able to win 16 of 24 faceoffs.
Stony Brook will attempt to end the three-game losing streak when it travels to take on America East opponent Hartford at Al-Marzook Field on Sunday, March 26 at 1 p.m..
