Nov. 9, 2001

The Matchup: Stony Brook (6-8-2, 3-7-1 America East) finished up conference play last weekend, but travel to face Adelphi in a matchup that was originally scheduled for Sept. 15. Due to the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., the game was postponed. After being rescheduled twice, the teams will finally square off in the season finale for each team on Saturday.

The Panthers (7-8-1, 3-3 Atlantic Soccer Conference) defeated Iona 4-1 on Wednesday in their last outing.

Series History: Adelphi leads the all-time series 16-5-1 and had not lost to the Seawolves in 33 years until last season, when Stony Brook earned a come-from-behind 3-2 victory in overtime. The win improved SBU to 11-1-2 overall and the Seawolves jumped to second in the New York Region, their highest NSCAA regional ranking ever.

The Panthers' Anders Salamonssen needed just 4:54 to put Adelphi on the board, as Marcin Pachowicz's corner kick found Salamonssen, who headed the ball into the goal past Stony Brook goalkeeper Dan Ferrin, giving the Panthers the early 1-0 lead. Just 17 minutes later, Jean Marc Simedou took a cross from Marlon McEachnie and slipped it past Ferrin for Adelphi's second score.

Then Stony Brook came to life. With Adelphi goalkeeper Stephen Elliot caught out of the net, Shane Arikian sent the ball to senior Alton Allen from the left side, who rifled it into the net in the 38th minute. Just two minutes later, Adelphi was called for a foul in the box. Juan Serna netted the penalty kick at 40:04 to even the score at 2-2.

The teams battled evenly throughout the second half but neither could tally the gamewinner, and the game headed into overtime, Stony Brook's third in five games. Ten minutes into the extra stanza, Adelphi's Paul Stewart was carded for a hard foul. Seawolves defender Jermaine Wright took the free kick from 45 yards away to set up the gamewinner. Allen took a pass from the left side and sent a 15-yard shot just past the reach of Elliot, giving Stony Brook the 3-2 comeback victory.

The win marked the first time Stony Brook had beaten Adelphi since 1967, when the Seawolves earned a 1-0 overtime victory and compiled an 8-1-2 overall record. Stony Brook's 11th victory also equaled the highest win total in SBU men's soccer history, while the Seawolves extended their unbeaten streak to seven games.

Last Weekend: Stony Brook lost its final two conference games against Vermont and Hartford, eliminating them from America East Conference playoff contention.

The Seawolves lost a heartbreaker to Vermont last Friday, surrendering a goal with just 41 seconds on the clock to suffer a 1-0 setback. Vermont's Matt Chavez gathered a Stony Brook turnover and fed Jamie Farrell on the run. Farrell ran past a defender and fired a low drive from 18 yards that beat Seawolves keeper Dan Ferrin.

Stony Brook played a man down for the final 26 minutes after back Randy Cyrus received a second yellow card.

It was Ferrin who kept the Seawolves alive throughout the game and equalled a career-high with 10 saves. His best was in the first half when he dove to stop Jason Allen's penalty kick in the 39th minute. On the ensuing rebound, UVM's Adam Wallace drilled the ball off the crossbar and another point blank shot by the Cats went wide. Vermont held Stony Brook to just seven shots on the afternoon with six coming in the first half.

On Sunday, two goals by freshman Akil Jordan helped Stony Brook battle Hartford, but the Hawks' Easton Wilson scored the gamewinner in the 80th minute to give Hartford the 3-2 victory.

Hartford struck first, as Alon Lubezky scored the first of his two goals just over seven minutes into the game. Christoffer Hartmann served the ball to Lubezky in the box, and Lubezky's header got past SBU goalkeeper Matt Thibdeau.

The Seawolves battled back behind the play of Jordan. In the 22nd minute, senior Jamie Gaither passed the ball to Jordan, who one-timed the ball from 12 yards out for the first goal of his Stony Brook career.

However, Lubezky struck again with 10 minutes to go before halftime. Lubezky gathered the rebound of Wilson's initial shot to earn his second goal of the game and lead Hartford to a 2-1 halftime advantage.

Just one minute into the second period, Jordan tallied again when his 22-yard blast got by Hawks keeper Chris Doyle to even the game at 2-2. But Hartford kept up the pressure and capitalized in the 80th minute, when Wilson headed in the gamewinner to the near post to hand Hartford the 3-2 victory.

Scouting the Panthers: Adelphi, which comes off two straight wins, has had a roller coaster season. After starting the season winless in their first six games, a span during which they scored just one goal, the Panthers later earned victories over Hartwick and Fairfield, which held a No. 22 national ranking at the time. in addition, Adelphi tied 25th-ranked Columbia and fell just 1-0 to 14th-ranked Ohio State.

The Panthers have tallied just 23 goals on the season, led by Marcin Pachowicz's eight. Mariusz Kulesza has chipped in with five goals and three assists.

Keeper Igor Yatsenko has started 111 games in the goal, recording a goals-against average of just 0.982 in 916:04. He has made 50 saves (.833).

Air Jordan: Freshman Akil Jordan was named to the America East Conference All-Rookie Team, the conference announced Wednesday.

Jordan had his best outing of the year against Hartford on Sunday, scoring two goals to lead the Seawolves. Jordan's first goal evened the game at 1-1 in the first half. He scored again on a 22-yard blast just one minute into the second half to bring the Seawolves to within 2-2.

The two goals were the first of Jordan's Stony Brook career. He has started all 16 games this season.

Boston University senior forward Joachim Kaland and head coach Neil Roberts received Player of the Year and Coach of the Year honors, respectively. Hartford's Alon Lubezky was named Rookie of the Year.

Voting for the awards was conducted by the America East head men's soccer coaches.

Injury Bug: All season long, the Seawolves have had to deal with the loss of key players due to injury. With just one game remaining, Stony Brook will have to add senior Jamie Gaither to the list of those sidelined.

Gaither, who has not missed a game in his two-year career, suffered an eye injury in the Seawolves' game at Hartford last weekend. Blurry vision will keep Gaither from playing in his final game as a Seawolf.

After Shane Arikian went down with a season-ending injury in the Seawolves' second game, several Seawolves, including starters Dan Ferrin, Mike Salvador and Johan Thomsson, and reserve Jude Osei Bonsu, have been forced to sit out because of injuries.

News and Notes: Senior Jamie Gaither was featured on the website Collegesoccer.com this week . . . Gaither leads the team with five goals and three assists (13 points) . . . four Seawolves have tallied two goals and one assist for five points--Kevin Cameron, Jude Osei Bonsu, Akil Jordan and Mike Salvador . . . the Seawolves hope to win their regular season finale for the first time in seven seasons.