The No. 1 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team survived and took down a persistent No. 8 Northwestern 15-10 on Saturday afternoon at Lakeside Field. This is the Seawolves’ fourth straight win and the fourth win of the season against nationally-ranked opponents.
Sophomore attacker Taryn Ohlmiller led the team with six points, scoring two goals and tallying four assists. Senior attacker Kylie Ohlmiller and senior midfielder Samantha DiSalvo recorded five points each – three goals and two assists for the senior Ohlmiller and one goal and four assists for DiSalvo.
“I’m really proud of our kids,” head coach Joe Spallina said in a press release. “This was a big road win against another Top 10 program. The greatest part of today’s game was how our team dealt with adversity and responded. I thought our preparation this week was top-notch, as well. Our scout offense was the MVP of this game, and details like that are what makes good programs great.”
The Seawolves had a difficult time pulling away from the Wildcats in the first half. Redshirt-senior attacker Courtney Murphy scored her third goal of the game with just over one minute remaining in the first half. Northwestern senior midfielder Sheila Nesselbush was able to respond with 12 seconds left, cutting the Stony Brook lead to 6-3. A three-goal lead is the smallest lead the Seawolves have had at halftime this season.
Nesselbush’s was the first of three straight goals for Northwestern, and Stony Brook led 6-5 four minutes into the second half. Spallina called a timeout after the goal to get his team refocused, and they came out of the timeout firing on all cylinders.
The duo of Kylie Ohlmiller and sophomore midfielder Ally Kennedy combined for four goals over a nine-minute span to put the Seawolves up 10-5 with 15 minutes left in the game. The Wildcats would continue to press the Seawolves’ defense, cutting the lead back down to two goals. However, the Seawolves were able to continue to find the back of the net and keep the Wildcats at bay, eventually winning the game by five.
The Seawolves were their usual dominant selves in multiple categories. The team outshot the Wildcats 30-28 and had more shots on goal by a final tally of 22-21. Junior goalkeeper Anna Tesoriero made 11 saves on the day, her highest save total of the season. The Seawolves forced 15 Wildcat turnovers, but the Wildcats had more free-position shots and draw controls.
Stony Brook will continue its road trip for the second of three straight away games after four consecutive victories against ranked opponents. The Seawolves will take on the Michigan Wolverines on Monday, March 5 at 4 p.m. at Michigan Stadium. Spallina is not taking the Wolverines lightly, despite this being the first game against an unranked opponent.
“We’ve got another big game at Michigan on Monday,” Spallina said. “We told the team to enjoy this one for an hour, then our full attention will turn toward preparation for Michigan.”
