Saturday, Sept. 8 was a day of near misses for Stony Brook Men’s Soccer, as the team managed to hit the mark on only one of more than 20 chances at the goal. The Seawolves left the field with a 1-1 overtime draw against the Siena Saints on the road.
The lone Stony Brook goal came in the 42nd minute off the foot of senior midfielder Serge Gamwanya. Junior striker Kyle Honor found Gamwanya wide open with a cross 10 feet in front of the goal and Gamwanya buried it for his team-leading third goal of the season.
Redshirt-freshman midfielder Linus Johansson put Siena on the board first in the 31st minute. Junior forward Matt Crisafulli tiptoed around the edge of the field on the right side before crossing to Johansson, who put the ball away just inside the right post.
The scoring ceased in the second half, but there were plenty of chances remaining. The Saints controlled the offensive zone for a stretch of six minutes beginning in the 54th minute, and created four shots and three corner kicks. Freshman goalkeeper Christian Miesch saved a header in the 60th minute to end the assault and pushed the ball forward to begin a lengthy attack for the Seawolves that lasted 17 minutes and generated four scoring opportunities.
Gamwanya in particular was a massive presence in Stony Brook’s offense. He tallied eight shots in the game, more than what Siena’s starters produced combined. He had another shot on goal in addition to his goal in the first half and kept the tempo alive for Stony Brook to continue to pressure.
The Seawolves had a surge of shot attempts in the last five minutes of regulation time. They forced Siena freshman goalkeeper Greg Monroe to work hard in the closing minutes of the half, saving one shot while two other shots were blocked, including an attempt with 15 seconds left by junior striker Jarred Dass.
The pace settled down in overtime, but Stony Brook still had several chances to steal a late road win. Gamwanya recorded the team’s first shot in the 98th minute but Monroe snagged his fourth save of the game on the strike. Freshman midfielder Jack Valderrabano opened the second overtime period with a blast that earned Monroe his fifth save, and Gamwanya had one final opportunity in the 110th minute but it went wide.
The Seawolves leave Siena with a 2-2-1 record and head back to Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium for a two-game homestand. The Seawolves will host the Hofstra Pride on Wednesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m.
