As the ball flew into the net off a volley from freshman forward Alyssa Francese in the 10th minute for the first goal of the game, an offensive onslaught began for the Stony Brook women’s soccer team. Stony Brook won its match on Sunday, Oct. 15 against UMBC 6-1 at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, tying the team’s season high for goals in a game.
“We were able to come out today and really find me, along with the other two forwards up top,” Francese said. “We were able to create opportunities and chances, and fortunately I was able to do that and finish the chances I was given.”
The win was a rebound from the team’s last match against Binghamton, where it was shut out 1-0. After Sunday’s match, head coach Brendan Faherty said the team did not take the loss too hard and was ready to get a win on Sunday.
“We’re a pretty resilient group,” Faherty said. “I don’t think we get too high, we don’t get too low, we’re a group that stays pretty focused in the moment, playing in the present. Just trying to continue to be positive.”
The Seawolves set the tone of the game early, pressuring the Retriever’s box and generating 21 shots, with 12 on goal. Senior forward Manuela Corcho capitalized off a rebound from junior forward Jordyn Klapper in the 37th minute to put Stony Brook ahead 2-0 before halftime.
The offense came out of the gate even quicker in the second half. Senior midfielder Samantha Goodwin benefitted from an error by UMBC junior goalkeeper Leah Roth in the 51st minute, when she initially blocked a shot but allowed the ball to roll through her legs into the goal. UMBC immediately committed a foul on defense, giving Stony Brook a penalty kick that Francese converted into the fourth goal of the game.
“I was glad [about] the way we came out in the second half,” Faherty said. “Scored two quick goals and kind of put the game away, cause y’know at 2-0 they’re still kind of hanging around but at 4-0, it’s kind of game over.”
The game firmly in control at that point, the Seawolves never let the pressure dissipate. Junior defender Allyson Baner netted a ball into the corner of the goal in the 66th minute off a pass from Klapper, pushing the score to 5-0.
After UMBC broke the shutout in the 75th minute via a goal from senior midfielder Gabby Boehmer, freshman forward Michaela Goglia recovered a shot from sophomore forward Sophia Morell and got past Wilkins for the sixth Stony Brook goal of the game.
Faherty credited the team’s play on the wings with opening up Stony Brook’s attacking game and generating chances in front of goal.
“I think that’s where we find success when we play a 4-3-3,” Faherty said. “You’ve got a lot of space on the flanks for our outside backs and our wingers to get involved in the attack, and I think we got a lot of really good effort from a lot of different players today. We played a lot of different combinations of forwards and attacking players, so I was happy to score some goals and get a really good win in the conference.”
The win improves the team’s overall record to 8-8 on the season and 4-2 in conference play. Stony Brook will prepare to face Albany for Stony Brook’s senior night at home on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m..
