Stony Brook Women’s Soccer picked up its fifth and final victory of the month with a 4-0 win against the Vermont Catamounts on Sunday, Sept. 30 at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, extending the team’s undefeated record on home turf to four games.
“We don’t have a lot of home games this year, it is something we’ve talked about that we wanted to be good at home,” head coach Brendan Faherty said. “So to be undefeated so far with two good ones remaining is something important. If we can take care of business at home, it obviously gives us a chance to host a game here in the America East playoffs.”
The matchup jumped off in a positive direction for the Seawolves. The team quickly moved toward the Catamounts’ net where sophomore forward Alyssa Francese took the ball from a left side cross and sent a shot past freshman goalkeeper Lydia Kessel just 30 seconds into action.
“Our last two games we fell behind early, so to start off the game with a goal in 30 seconds says a lot about our group,” Faherty said. “We talked a lot about character after the Albany game, and they showed a lot of character today.”
Kessel was subbed out of the matchup in the 10th minute after she was accidently kicked in the face while diving for a loose ball in the box.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kacey Lambertson took over for the remainder of the matchup. Stony Brook still managed to find the back of the net however, scoring two more goals in the first half and a final one in the second.
Possession time favored the Seawolves, who produced numerous opportunities in the matchup. Stony Brook more than doubled Vermont’s shot total 19-8, including 11-3 in shots landing on net. The team kept control of the ball, which heavily influenced the fast offensive play of the Seawolves.
Sophomore midfielder Kimmy Chavkin scored the team’s second goal in the 31st minute as she lined up for a free kick just outside of the penalty box. Her shot bent into the top left corner to give the Seawolves a two-goal advantage.
Freshman midfielder Mari Brenden followed Chavkin’s goal, scoring just under four minutes later. The freshman now has two goals in her Seawolves career after previously scoring against Seton Hall on Aug. 26.
The Seawolves had the upper hand heading into the locker room at the half. Along with outshooting the Catamounts 10-2, the team allowed only a single shot on goal toward sophomore goalkeeper Sofia Manner. She would go on to save three shots in her clean sheet victory.
In addition to the strong offensive pace, Faherty’s team held Vermont to its third lowest shot total this season in the shutout victory.
“I think we’re a really hard working group and they understand the importance of defending,” Faherty said. “I believe the better you are at defending, the less you have to do it.”
The game’s fate was sealed in the 82nd minute when sophomore midfielder Chelsie DePonte was fed a pass toward the middle of the box area and knocked it in, capping off the dominant 4-0 victory.
The team’s overall record moves to 7-5-1, with an unbeaten conference record of 2-0-1. The Seawolves have five conference games remaining in the regular season, and move on to face the Binghamton Bearcats at home on Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m.
