Oct. 27, 2010

Box Score

Senior Mladen Ramic scored a goal in the 56th minute, and the Seawolves defense held Hartford without a shot on goal as the Stony Brook men's soccer team pitched a 1-0 shutout over the Hawks Wednesday in Hartford, Conn. The victory clinches a spot in next week's America East Championship and guarantees the Seawolves at least one home game in the tournament. 

Stony Brook is now 8-1-3 over its last 12 matches and is unbeaten over its last five matches (3-0-2). The Seawolves now have 11 points and are tied with UMBC for second place in the standings. The Seawolves and Retrievers end the regular season against each other Sunday at LaValle Stadium with the winner earning a first-round bye in the America East Championship. 

"Hartford was a tough opponent tonight, but we got lucky with a goal off a corner kick and played strong defense," said head coach Cesar Markovic.

Ramic, who played terrific defense on the night, picked up his first goal of the season when he headed in Mehdi Belakehal's corner kick past Hawks keeper Luke Citriniti. It was Ramic's second career goal and Belakehal's fourth career assist, all coming this season.

Stony Brook's defense did the rest as it held the Hawks without a shot on goal, despite Hartford outshooting the Seawolves overall 12-6. Stefan Manz picked up his America East leading seventh shutout of the season, lowering his goals against average to 0.96. 

The match was very typical of previous Hartford-Stony Brook meetings. The Seawolves' goal was just the third overall goal scored by either team since 2006, and it was the first time that a Seawolves-Hawks match didn't go into overtime since 2003.

Stony Brook and UMBC will square off Sunday at LaValle Stadium at 5 p.m. with the No. 2 seed on the line.