April 23, 2008

Box Score

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Trailing by three goals with 10 minutes to play, the Stony Brook men's lacrosse team mounted a comeback against #20 Hofstra that fell just short as the Pride escaped with a 14-13 win over the Seawolves. Senior Bo Tripodi (Hauppauge, N.Y.) had three goals and three assists to lead Stony Brook. The game was played in front of 5,723 fans, the largest crowd to ever watch a Stony Brook lacrosse game in LaValle Stadium.

"It was a great environment to play lacrosse in tonight," remarked Stony Brook head coach Rick Sowell. "It would have been nice to get a couple of more goals and win this thing. I could not be more proud of our guys, the way we hung in there and battled. There is no quit in this team. They give me all they have and as a coach that is all I can ask for."

Senior Bobby Trenkle (Commack, N.Y.) put Stony Brook (7-5) on top with the first goal of the game two minutes in, but Hofstra (7-5) came back with a pair of scores to take a 2-1 lead on a goal from Anthony Muscarella, one of what turned out to be six for him on the night. Tripodi tied it up off an assist from Trenkle late in the quarter, but Hofstra again answered with a pair, this time scoring just nine seconds apart to take a 4-2 lead into the second quarter.

Like he did in the first, Trenkle scored early in the quarter and the Seawolves followed that up with a man-up score from senior Ryan Hughes (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) that tied it up at 4-4, one of eight ties during the contest. Stony Brook then matched Hofstra goal-for-goal over the remainder of the quarter, and when freshman Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, British Columbia) scored off another Trenkle assist with 18 seconds left before the half, the game was tied again, this time at six-all.

Senior Owen Adams (Norwalk, Conn.) and Crowley scored back-to-back goals in the opening minutes of the third to put the Seawolves up by two, but Muscarella answered those scores with two of his own to knot the game at 8-8. With 5:11 left in the quarter freshman Jordan McBride (New Westminster, British Columbia) put Stony Brook back on top with his first score of the night, but it proved to be the last time the Seawolves would have the lead. Hofstra scored twice in less then a minute to retake the lead at 10-9, but the Seawolves stayed in it, getting scores from Tripodi and Adams that sent the game into the fourth tied yet again, this time at 11-all.

Hofstra then started the fourth with three goals over the first 3:13 and the three-goal advantage proved to be just enough for the Pride. With 9:55 left McBride put away his 39th goal of the season to cut the deficit to two. Eight minutes later Tripodi pulled the Seawolves to within one with his third score of the contest, breathing more life into the comeback bid. With 1:15 left, it looked as if the Seawolves had gotten the ball back after a hit by senior Nick Maturro (West Islip, N.Y.) jarred the ball lose from a Hofstra player. But Maturro was called for a one-minute penalty and Hofstra was able to take advantage and essentially run out the clock.

Tripodi matched his career-high with his six-point night. Trenkle finished with five points, a career-high, on two goals and three assists. Adams, McBride, and Crowley each added a pair of goals. Jay Card and Tom Dooley each added a pair of goals to Muscarella's six for Hofstra.

Stony Brook will now close out the regular season with an America East game at Albany on Saturday, April 26 at 7:00 p.m. The game will be carried live on WUSB, 90.1 FM and televised in the Albany area on Time Warner Cable.