No. 1-seeded Stony Brook Women’s Lacrosse opened the America East Conference playing in dominating fashion, defeating UMass Lowell 20-7 Saturday afternoon at Cushing Field.
The Seawolves caught fire early and did not let up offensively, scoring 16 goals in the first half alone. Senior attacker Kylie Ohlmiller recorded a team-high 10 points, scoring four goals and assisting on six other goals. Redshirt-senior attacker Courtney Murphy scored a team-high six goals on 10 shots and recorded one assist.
“Being 1-0 in conference play is a great place to be, I thought we came here and handled being on the road really well as a squad,” head coach Joe Spallina said in a press release. “A lot of assisted goals, and the opportunity for us to play our entire roster today was great.”
Stony Brook assisted on more than half of its goals on the day. Ohlmiller led the team, followed by sophomore attacker Taryn Ohlmiller, who scored four goals and had two assists. Murphy and three other teammates each picked up one assist.
The contest started off as a back-and-forth affair, as the Seawolves lead 5-3 after the first 10 minutes of action. The team came back down the field and senior midfielder Samantha DiSalvo fired a shot past River Hawks senior goalkeeper Courtney Barrett to kickstart an 8-0 run that lasted 12 minutes and put the Seawolves in front 13-3 with 7:39 left in the first half.
Stony Brook scored three more times to end the half with 16, the most the team has scored in a single half this season. The team scored four more goals in the second half to end the game with 20 goals, the most Stony Brook has all season.
Freshmen midfielder and attacker Siobhan Rafferty and Marlee Moon Gaddy scored the first goals of their Stony Brook careers. Rafferty was able to find the back of the net twice, while Moon Gaddy scored once and picked up an assist.
The Seawolves took 38 shots in the game compared to the River Hawks’ 15. They were the more accurate team, recording 28 shots on goal compared to the River Hawks’ 14 shots on goal. The team also forced 15 turnovers while only giving the ball up nine times.
Stony Brook was nearly perfect in their clears, converting 14 of its 15 attempts. The team won the ground ball and draw-control game as well with 15 and 17 respectively.
Kylie Ohlmiller and Murphy both inch closer to NCAA records with each passing game. Murphy will probably be the first of the two to break her record, which is career goals. The senior has 277 career goals and only trails the record holder, Temple alumna Gail Cummings, by 12 goals.
Kylie Ohlmiller needs to rack up 51 more points to break the career points record set by Maryland alumna Jen Adams, who had 445. She also needs 28 more assists to break the record set by Northwestern alumna Jen Adams with 224.
Stony Brook will return home and continue the America East Conference play when the team takes on Vermont on Friday, March 30 at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. The first face-off is slated for 7 p.m.
