Feb. 19, 2013

Box Score

(1-1) 1 2 3 4 F Stony Brook 5 3 3 1 12 Lafayette 3 1 2 4 10 Box Score (1-1)

EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette men's lacrosse team's comeback effort fell short Tuesday night, as Stony Brook held on for a 12-10 victory in the Leopards' home opener. The Leopards pulled to within one, with five minutes to go, but that was as close as they would get as two late penalties thwarted their comeback effort.

Lafayette was led offensively by sophomore attackman Sonny Round who finished the day with three goals, and now has seven on the season. Juniors John Floyd and Jake Mann each netted two goals on the day. Sophomore Brian Bock and freshmen Morgan Westby and Kevin Wanke rounded out the scoring for the Leopards, each chipping in a goal apiece.

The Leopards held a 31-26 advantage in groundballs. Senior Greg Rau led the team with seven, while junior Matt Evans and Westby each picked up four. Rau went 13-for-25 from the faceoff "X" for the Leopards.

Junior Jake Hyatt made 10 saves in a losing effort for Lafayette and he falls to 1-1 this season. His counterpart, Dan Shaugnessy, made nine saves in the win improving to 1-1.

Stony Brook was led offensively by Brody Eastwood, who scored three goals on five shots. Jeff Tuno, Challen Rogers and Mike Andreassi each scored a pair of goals for the Seawolves. Jake Sichenzia chipped in a goal and an assist, while Matt Schultz and Chris Hughes both scored one.

The Leopards outshot the Seawolves (40-29), but Stony Brook was able to hit the target more than Lafayette, holding a 22-19 advantage in shots on goal. Both teams had 11 turnovers on the afternoon.

Stony Brook scored the first goal of the game and never trailed throughout. Floyd eluded a defender and found the back of the net to tie the game at one. Stony Brook goals by Hughes and Tundo stretched the Seawolves lead to 3-1 before Round took on and beat a defender, slotting it past Shaugnessy to pull the Leopards back within a goal at 3-2.

The Seawolves tallied two in a row again on goals by Schultz and Tundo to build the lead up to three at 5-2. Mann took advantage of a Westby pass to cut the lead to 5-3 on a man-up advantage, which ended the first quarter scoring.

Bock started off the second quarter beating a defender, before blistering a shot past the Seawolves goalie. Stony Brook's Eastwood netted the next two and a third goal on a man up advantage by Rogers rounded out the first half scoring with the Seawolves holding an 8-4 advantage.

Lafayette came out in the third quarter scoring two of the first three goals. Round juked a defender and fired past the Stony Brook goalie to open the second half. Andreassi answered back for the Seawolves on a feed from Sichenzia. Wanke then took a pass from Round and buried a shot to cut the deficit to three at 9-6. The Seawolves finished the quarter with two straight goals to build the lead up to 11-6.

In the fourth quarter, the Leopards made their move. Lafayette rattled off four straight goals, starting with Westby slicing through the Seawolves defense and beating Shaugnessy. Round then netted his third of the day and seventh of the season. Saturday's hero, Floyd, buried the third in a row after beating a Seawolves defender. Mann tallied the fourth straight to pull the Leopards within one at 11-10, but that was as close as they would come.

Stony Brook's Sichenzia found himself one-on-one with Hyatt after a pass from Rogers, and Sichenzia beat Hyatt to give the Seawolves an insurance goal with 4:15 to play. Two crucial penalties in the final two minutes of play sealed the Leopards' fate, as Stony Brook was able to control and run out the clock.

Next up for the Leopards is a trip to Riverdale, N.Y. to take on Manhattan on Saturday at 1 p.m. followed by a trip to Wagner next Tuesday.