Senior Night for the Stony Brook men’s soccer team required the most points the Seawolves have scored all season long, but they walked out as the victor against rival, the University of Albany Great Danes, having bested them 3-2 in overtime.
Senior striker Jarred Dass received a pass in the 10th minute from freshman defender Sebastian Rojek to start the scoring off for Stony Brook with the rookie passing it to the veteran. The Seawolves had one of their best offensive performances of the season, scoring three goals and taking ten shots, with five on goal. The Great Danes took more shots, 12, and more shots on goal, six, but Seawolves redshirt-junior midfielder Gabriel Fernandes buried a shot on goal to win the game in the 98th minute, proving Albany’s slightly better success futile.
It’s worth noting that freshman goalkeeper Edmond Kaiser had some heroics late as well. Right before the Fernandes goal, Kaiser saved what would’ve been a game-winning UAlbany goal that he sent back downfield. Dass started this game hot for Stony Brook, but Kaiser helped end it.
“I’ve said it all season, the guys have continued to pick themselves up even when things haven’t been going their way and they did that tonight,” head coach Ryan Anatol said in a press release. “They came out and battled from the start. I thought we looked like the aggressors. We wanted to get the three points and I’m just so proud of how the guys battled for the entire night.”
Saturday night’s game saw the Seawolves never hold the lead for more than 15 minutes with the Great Danes rushing to equalize both of Stony Brook’s goals in the 10th minute and 63rd minute. Stony Brook is 3-1-1 when they score more than one goal and this is the first game this season the Seawolves have won while allowing multiple goals. Stony Brook’s offense has been hot as of late as well, scoring five goals in the last two games after scoring six goals in the last nine games before those two. It may not be a coincidence that the Seawolves faced rivals in both of their last two games in Binghamton and Albany, potentially giving a lot more meaning to those games.
The Seawolves are now 11-6-4 all-time against the Great Danes and earned their first conference win this season.
Stony Brook closes out their season on the road on Saturday, Nov. 2 against UMass Lowell and Wednesday, Nov. 6 against UMBC. The Seawolves can finish no worse than sixth in the America East if they win their final two matchups.
