The Stony Brook hockey team scored early and often on Saturday night in a 13-0 rout of West Chester at the Ice Line Quad Rinks in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
The Seawolves, who were coming off a blowout loss to Adrian College, had 10 different players find the back of the net in their victory against the Golden Rams. Seawolves head coach Chris Garofalo expressed his satisfaction with his team’s effort.
“It was a 60-minute game,” Garofalo said. “We did play 60 minutes in the sense that we played as a team the whole time, we didn’t play as individuals.”
Junior forward Brad Riccardi started the scoring for Stony Brook at the 4:46 mark of the first period, opening the floodgates for a 5-0 lead after one period of play. With the victory already all but guaranteed, Garofalo got creative to make sure his team kept its foot on the gas pedal.
“We were in the locker room after the first period and I said ‘Here’s a little challenge for you,’” Garofalo said. “I want everyone to [have a plus rating] and no minuses for the game. Every line and every person was a plus at the end of the game. That’s the definition of scoring by committee.”
Senior forward Brendan Calello played well in the winning effort, collecting five points on the night. Calello scored twice in a span 11 seconds late in the game to complete the first Seawolves hat trick since Feb. 11, 2017, and was named game MVP by the team.
The Seawolves backed up their high octane offense with solid defensive play, holding the Golden Rams to 11 shots on goal. Sophomore goaltender Payne Yoder earned his fourth shutout of the season and, despite the low shot volume, made a few key saves to secure the shutout.
“[The team] has a lot of confidence knowing that if they make a mistake, he’s there,” Garofalo said. “It’s nice to have that good feeling because the guys really feel a lot more comfortable when he’s behind them.”
Stony Brook is now 9-1-1 with Yoder in net this season.
The Seawolves stuck to their offensive gameplan in the back half of the weekend set with the Golden Rams, registering a total of 56 shots on goal in their 4-1 victory on Sunday.
West Chester opened the scoring with a goal at the 7:06 mark of the first period, a goal that turned out to be the team’s only successful shot the entire weekend. They took a 1-0 lead into the second period, despite trailing 19-3 in shots after 20 minutes, but Stony Brook found the back of the net twice in the middle frame to take a lead.
The second Seawolves goal, scored by sophomore forward Devon Palmieri, provided the team with a lead they would never surrender.
“The second goal was huge,” Garofalo said. “Palmieri took the puck from center ice, beat the defensemen, and then went from his backhand to his forehand and roofed it over the goalie’s shoulder. He dangled the goalie and scored. It was a really nice play.”
Stony Brook collected another two goals in the third period off the sticks of junior defenseman Frank Coscia and freshman forward Joseph Slevin. The goal total may have been much higher if not for the impressive play of West Chester sophomore goaltender Breandan Colgan, who earned a .929 save percentage in the losing effort.
“Their goalie was unreal,” Garofalo said. “He was a lot better than [sophomore goalkeeper Colby Fiel] the night before. He just stood on his head for them today.”
Stony Brook who scored a combined 17 goals this weekend and registered a total of 108 shots in the two games, will come home with itsfirst weekend sweep since late October against Delaware.
On Friday, Stony Brook heads to NYU for the first game of a home-and-home with the Violets at Chelsea Piers. The series will then shift back to The Rinx in Hauppauge on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. for Stony Brook’s last game before winter break.
