No. 18/17 Women's Lacrosse Drops 8-4 Decision to No. 15/15 Stony Brook
BOX SCORE
ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany women's lacrosse team (10-2, 2-1 AE) couldn't recover from a slow start on Saturday afternoon and fell 8-4 to No. 15/15 Stony Brook (12-2, 3-0 AE).
“I thought we had some opportunities, but when they were there we weren't looking for them,” said head coach John Battaglino. “We were playing tentative, and those opportunities go by quickly. We didn't stick to our game plan, and we couldn't get back on track.”
After UAlbany forced a turnover on the first possession, the Seawolves returned the favor moments later and charged down the field for their first goal. Stony Brook won the ensuing draw to take a 2-0 lead with 25 minutes left in the first half.
Kathleen Lennon took the draw for her first of the next three to set up Maureen Keggins in front of Stony Brook's end. Sarah Martin dished out the assist to Keggins to narrow the lead to 2-1 for the Seawolves.
Stony Brook made UAlbany pay for turnovers over the next two minutes. The Great Danes committed three turnovers, giving the Seawovles a window to go up 4-1 with 15 minutes left in the half.
UAlbany got back on track with a man-up opportunity and the first card of the game against Stony Brook. Rachel Bowles curled around the cage to convert on her 33rd goal of the season, unassisted.
Despite Lennon taking the draw after the UAlbany goal, Stony Brook forced another turnover and headed the other way to make the score 5-2.
Over the final nine minutes of the half, Battaglino's squad went 0-for-3 on free position shots and the Seawolves took a 5-2 lead into the break.
Stony Brook converted on a free position shot before looking to stall with a 6-2 lead and 26 minutes left in the contest.
In an effort to get the ball back, the Great Danes picked up two yellow cards, and the Seawolves responded accordingly with two man-up goals.
Katherine Sweeney scored quickly off the draw with 14 minutes left from Ariana Parker, and after plenty of fouls from both teams the score remained 8-3. Keggins scored her second of the game with 2:29 left to conclude scoring.
The Great Danes went 0-for-6 on free position shots, while the Seawolves went 3-for-4. The game marks the lowest offensive output for UAlbany since falling to Stony Brook 14-3 in the America East Final last season.
The Purple & Gold will look to rebound on Wednesday with its final regular season home game of the season against Columbia at 3:00 p.m.
