Entering halftime against Boston College, Stony Brook Women’s Soccer Head Coach Brendan Faherty understood the difficulty the second half would bring. He felt the team played strongly in the first half, but undoubtedly knew that two goals against his girls in the first five and last five minutes of the half set the tone for a struggling second.
“I thought we were actually better than them in the first half,” Faherty said. “I thought during the second half they were better than us, but when you’re up 2-0, you can be calm and you can be composed.”
The final five minutes of the match were a catalyst for the Golden Eagles, as they went on to dominate the Seawolves in the second half, winning by a final score of 3-0 at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium Thursday night.
In the fifth minute, after a corner kick from Golden Eagles freshman forward Sam Coffey, freshman defender Gianna Mitchell connected with a header and was able to find her teammate, sophomore forward Jenna Bike. The sophomore, who was not covered, jumped above the Stony Brook defense and headed the ball into the wide open net.
The Golden Eagles scored their second goal of the night in the 40th minute, thanks to a well-placed pass. Junior forward Carly Leipzig had possession in the middle of the field, dribbling on Stony Brook territory until the ball found sophomore midfielder Emily Langenderfer. The midfielder was able to air out a precise pass, landing on Leipzig’s foot. Leipzig chipped Seawolves freshman goalkeeper Sofia Manner, and the ball slowly rolled into the back of the net.
“I thought that in those 35 minutes between the two goals, there were a lot of good things we did,” Faherty said. “But, we gave up a poor goal on a restart early on and let up one right before halftime, and that’s not going to get you to win soccer games. We have to not let up goals, and we need to score goals.”
Stony Brook junior forwards Julie Johnstonbaugh and Jordyn Klapper led the offensive attack for the Seawolves, both recording two shots. However, Boston College’s defense stifled every attempt Stony Brook had. The Seawolves took six shots the entire game, with only two shots on goal. Boston College had 11 shots on goal out of 19 total.
In the second half, the Seawolves’ defense struggled to keep their opponents at bay. Four relentless shots from the Golden Eagles were volleyed toward Stony Brook’s goal until a shot by redshirt senior midfielder Lauren Berman made it past Manner in the 59th minute. The goal brought the game to its final score of 3-0.
“I thought the second half, Boston College was better than us,” Faherty said. “I thought they did a better job being more composed of the ball. They were able to switch the point of attack. They were able to get some numbers involved in the attack.”
Stony Brook will have a few days off before hitting the road in a match-up against Bryant on Sunday, Sept. 3 at 1 p.m.
