The scenario was eerily familiar. The Virginia Cavaliers were leading the Stony Brook Seawolves, 10-9, with less than a minute to go in the game at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium on Stony Brook’s campus.
The last time Stony Brook and Virginia played, it was the NCAA quarterfinals in front of a packed house at the same venue, and the same scoreline stood with a minute to go. In that one, Stony Brook’s last-ditch efforts came up short and Virginia advanced to the Final Four.
This time, it would require a little more work from the Cavaliers.
Out of a Seawolves timeout, the ball made its way to the stick of Stony Brook’s Russ Bonanno. He waited behind the net for a few tantalizing seconds as the Seawolves cleared out, then charged towards the left and fired past Virginia goalkeeper Adam Ghitelman to tie the game at 10 with three seconds left in regulation, sending the teams to overtime.
The Seawolves got possession off the opening faceoff of the extra period and couldn’t convert on two shots. The Cavaliers couldn’t convert either, but Stony Brook’s clearance attempt went horribly wrong, ending up in the stick of Steele Stanwick who, with 44 seconds to go in overtime, grabbed the loose ball in front of the Stony Brook net and fired it home to give the Cavs an 11-10 win and bring Seawolves players to their knees in disappointment.
“It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time,” Stanwick said of the goal, his fifth of the game and eighth of the season. “Sometimes you need a little luck.”
The No. 1 Cavaliers improved to 3-0 on the season, while it was the first game of the year for the No. 5 Seawolves, who lost to Virginia for the ninth time in school history.
“I wouldn’t say frustrating, it’s more disappointing,” senior midfielder Kevin Crowley said. “But we have a lot of lacrosse left.”
Both teams were without star players, as Stony Brook’s Tom Compitello sat out with an illness and Rhamel and Shamel Bratton of Virginia were suspended for what Cavs head coach Dom Starsia classified as “violations of team policy.”
They may have missed the Bratton brothers early on as both teams only managed one goal apiece in the first quarter. Stanwick scored early on a defensive mistake, but the Seawolves settled down after a Crowley goal leveled the score.
Ghitelman and senior Rob Camposa, making his first start as a Seawolf, made three saves through the first period. Ghitelman earned his 40th career win, tying him atop the Cavaliers all-time wins list. He finished with 10 saves to Camposa’s 11.
After going down 3-1 with under five minutes to go in the first half, Virginia climbed back to even terms courtesy of Stanwick and freshman attack Mark Cockerton, who scored goals a minute apart to tie the game at three going into halftime.
Virginia controlled the game through the third, stretching its lead to three goals by just past the halfway point of the fourth quarter.
Senior Adam Rand took over the faceoff circle late in the game when the Seawolves needed it most, winning 9-of-12 in the fourth and the only faceoff of overtime.
The floodgates opened up, with the teams combining for nine goals in the final seven minutes of play. The Seawolves trailed by two when Colin Briggs scored with 1:12 remaining to put the Cavaliers up 10-8, but Crowley scored with 21 seconds to go and Bonanno’s goal with three seconds left sent the game to overtime. Crowley finished with four goals and an assist.
But the Seawolves couldn’t earn revenge for last season’s NCAA tournament ousting.
“Unlike last season, this is just the beginning, not the end,” Seawolves head coach Rick Sowell said. “We feel confident that we’ll continue to get better.”
For Virginia, it was a win that serves as a confidence boost for a team already riding high. “For us to come on the road to Stony Brook and win is important for this team as we move forward,” Starsia said.
The Seawolves will play at Marist on March 5, while the Cavaliers will host VMI on Feb. 28.
