Despite not winning a single one of the 24 faceoffs in the matchup, Stony Brook Men’s Lacrosse put up a fight in its 13-7 defeat to the No. 1-ranked Albany Great Danes at John Fallon Field on Saturday afternoon.
“It was a tough league loss today,” head coach Jim Nagle said in a press release. “We fought hard and I am confident that our team will continue to improve through adversity.”
The Seawolves entered the third period down 8-5, with the threat of their six-game losing streak after trailing at halftime intact. However, the team showed positive signs of play in the period, notching three ground balls in the first 3:17.
The following ground ball, which was credited to junior midfielder Owen Daly, set up sophomore midfielder Wayne White to score a goal with 8:03 remaining in the period and close the Albany lead to two. The goal continued White’s streak of scoring in his fourth straight game.
Following White’s goal, the Great Danes proved why the nation’s top ranking has belonged to them for the past eight weeks.
Sophomore midfielder Ron John scored off an assist from freshman attacker Tehoka Nanticoke to put Albany up 9-6. A little over three minutes later, Nanticoke notched a goal of his own to extend the lead to four. Nanticoke found another way to get involved in Albany’s final goal of the period.
He fired a shot that went wide of the net with just seven seconds left on the clock. Freshman midfielder Alex Burgmaster picked up the out of bounds ball and drove to the Stony Brook net, where he fired the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Michael Bollinger with a second left on the clock.
Bollinger finished the matchup with 10 saves out 23 shots on net, equally matching Albany’s total of saves. Stony Brook’s defense played a strong stance against the top-ranked team, causing eight total turnovers compared to the team’s four. Junior long stick middie Rylan Rees displayed his defensive captainship in the matchup, leading the team in caused turnovers along with freshman defender Danny Cassidy with three.
Freshman midfielder Mike McCannell played an important role in the Seawolves’ offensive unit, accounting for a hat trick as well as sparking the offensive attack after trailing 4-0 to start the matchup. McCannell’s third goal of the game came at the 7:56 mark of the second period.
As the Seawolves accounted for 120 seconds on three penalties, the Great Danes were successful on two of the man-advantage opportunities, including their second goal of the day with 4:21 left in the first period of play.
The defeat now brings Stony Brook’s conference record to 2-1, its away record to 2-2, and an overall record of 3-6. The team returns home to Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Tuesday night, where it holds a 1-4 record, to face St. John’s University at 7:30 p.m.
