Sept. 20, 2002
The Matchup: The Stony Brook men's soccer team squares off against Philadelphia University at Seawolves Stadium today.
The Rams (2-3) fell 4-1 to Temple on Wednesday, while Adelphi defeated Stony Brook (0-6) 1-0 in overtime.
Series History: Stony Brook leads the all-time series, 2-1. The teams last played in 2000, when the Seawolves captured a 3-2 victory.
Both teams were a member of the Atlantic Soccer Conference that season. Philadelphia remains a member, while Stony Brook is currently in its second year of America East Conference play.
Scouting the Rams: After an 0-2 start, Philadelphia has bounced back to win two of its last three games, both of which were shutouts.
Senior midfielder David Ortega and freshman forward Brendan Miller have each scored two goals on the season to lead Philadelphia. Miller has scored in each of the past two games.
Junior goalkeeper Scott Nixon has seen nearly all of the action in the net for the Rams, where he has given up 11 goals (2.30 GAA) and made 24 saves.
A New Home: On Wednesday, the Seawolves played the first soccer game ever at Seawolves Stadium, which opened Sept. 14 when the football team opened its season against St. John's. The game also marked the first-ever home night game for the Stony Brook men's soccer team.
The Seawolves hope to pick up their first win in the stadium today after falling to Adelphi in Wednesday's game.
Stony Brook will play one more game this season in the stadium - Oct. 2 against Marist.
Last Time Out: After 90 scoreless minutes, the Adelphi men's soccer team took just 1:57 to score the gamewinning goal and earn a 1-0 victory over Stony Brook at Seawolves Stadium on Wednesday evening.
With both teams still looking for their first win of the season, the game was evenly played throughout regulation. Adelphi (1-5) got off 12 shots, but Stony Brook goalkeeper Dan Ferrin made five saves to keep the Panthers at bay.
After a Stony Brook foul with just over a minute gone by in overtime, Adelphi set up a free kick near the right sideline. After a scramble in front of the goal, senior midfielder Anders Salomonsson somehow managed to knock a header towards the goal, but a Stony Brook defender hustled to kick it off the goal line. However, the ball went right to sophomore forward Sigurd Riksfjord, who nudged the ball just into the net in the right corner.
Adelphi had 13 shots compared to nine for Stony Brook, but the real edge for the Panthers came in corner kicks, where they had nine compared to just one for the Seawolves.
Ferrin finished with five saves, and Adelphi's Igor Yatsenko collected two.
Jinx At Home: After a 10-game non-losing streak in overtime games that spanned three seasons, two of the Seawolves' losses have come in exta periods this year.
Both setbacks have come at home, and both gamewinning goals came after a scramble in front of the Stony Brook goal.
The losses were even more painful considering the time the goals were scored. Holy Cross netted the gamewinner with just 13 seconds left in overtime. Against Adelphi, neither team could score the 90 minutes of regulation, but the Panthers captured the victory barely two minutes into the extra period.
The Seawolves were 4-2-2 at home last year.
Hitting the Road: After today, the Seawolves will play four of their next five games away from home. The only home game in that span is Wednesday, Oct. 2, against Marist at 7 p.m.
News and Notes: The Seawolves have three remaining non-conference games after today--Sacred Heart (Sept. 25), Marist (Oct. 2) and Rider (Oct. 8) . . . the Seawolves begin their quest in the America East Conference on Sept. 28 at Vermont.
