The Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team split its recent matchups, edging out Hofstra 11-10 on Tuesday, March 26. However, the Seawolves lost to the Marist College Red Foxes by a score of 10-5 on Saturday, March 3.
Stony Brook rebounded from surrendering a Hofstra score with a three-goal scoring run, capped by sophomore midfielder Patrick Kaschalk for the 3-1 lead midway through the second period. The Seawolves were in control offensively for most of the game, with junior attacker Tom Haun’s goal extending the lead to 10-7 with nine minutes remaining in the game.
“This was a great win for our guys. I’m very proud of them. This was a hard fought game. I thought Hofstra played extremely hard,” head coach Jim Nagle said after the game. “Both teams just played their hearts out. It was a great college lacrosse game in early February and both teams competed hard.”
Although Hofstra was down, freshman attacker Whit Stopak dug the team out of the hole with three consecutive goals, the final one tying the match at 10 with 1:49 remaining. Although it seemed the momentum had swung firmly in the Pride’s direction, Haun capitalized off a lose ball with a fiery shot through the back of the net and iced the game. Haun earned a career-high five goals in the victory, including an emotional game-winner.
“That was a special one,” Haun said after the game. “Obviously, it’s a rivalry game and they beat up on us pretty good last year. Just to come out and get that win, I know it was a nailbiter, and it was just so much fun out there and I am so proud of my team.”
Other solid offensive contributors included Kaschalk and junior midfielder Tom Dugan, who each added a pair of goals. Junior midfielder Connor Grippe and sophomore attacker Jack Walsh scored goals as well.
Junior goalie Michael Bollinger came up big by grabbing nine saves that kept the Seawolves in the game. The defensive effort was led by sophomore defender Danny Cassidy, who also came up big with seven ground balls and two caused turnovers. On faceoffs, sophomore midfielder Nolan Enneguess won 11-19 and contributed providing the Seawolves with the ball throughout the game.
In the match against Marist, however, the result didn’t favor Stony Brook.
The game had been tied at 3-3 by the end of the first half. However, the third quarter saw the Red Foxes thoroughly dominate the Seawolves, scoring five straight unanswered goals and controlling possession throughout, with Marist junior faceoff Peyton Smith winning 15 of the 19 faceoffs and the team as a whole winning 34 ground balls to Stony Brook’s 19. Marist’s offense was driven by freshman attackers James Lyons and Jojo Pirreca, who each scored three goals and were two of the six different scores for Marist. For the Seawolves, junior attacker Chris Pickel Jr. had two goals, while junior attacker Tom Haun, junior midfielder Harrison Matsuoka and sophomore midfielder Mike McCannell each added one goal.
“Their faceoff guy was real good,” Nagle said. “I thought that that was an integral part of the game. I thought we could have come up with some of the loose balls. We didn’t have a great day there. But it’s like every game, you just gotta be ready to go at the faceoff, and I felt like the ball was on the ground quite a bit that we could have gotten but we didn’t.”
“Coming off a big win against Hofstra, I think we were a little too confident,” junior attacker Tom Haun, who added a goal on Saturday, said. “I think we overestimated ourselves and kind overlooked this game. We came out really flat and they were just a good team.”
However, Nagle remained optimistic about the team despite the tough loss.
“We need to stay together most importantly as we move through. It’s real early. It’s a marathon and not a sprint. So, I think we’ll be playing our best lacrosse by the end of the season and we just need to keep getting better,” Nagle concluded.
The Seawolves host the Sacred Heart University Pioneers at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Tuesday, March 5.
