Sept. 14, 2011
Men's Soccer Gameday
Game #6: Stony Brook Seawolves (1-2-2) vs. Sacred Heart Pioneers (2-2-0)
Thu., Sept. 15 • LaValle Stadium • Stony Brook, N.Y. • 7 p.m.
LIVE: STATS | VIDEO
Stony Brook Seawolves (1-2-2, 0-0 America East)
Head Coach: Ryan Anatol, first season
Career Record: 1-2-2
Record at SBU: same
Sacred Heart Pioneers (2-2-0, 0-0-0 Northeast)
Head Coach: Joe Barroso, seventh season
Career Record: 173-174-33
Record at SHU: 51-48-13
The Scene: Coming off a strong performance at the Flash Gordon Invitational, Stony Brook now returns home for its Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium season debut, taking on the Sacred Heart Pioneers. It is the first of three consecutive home games, and the Seawolves will be looking for their second win of the season. This is the 15th all-time meeting between the two teams, and the Seawolves have dominated with a 9-2-3 record. They have not met since 2004, when the Seawolves went up to Fairfield, Conn., and came away with a 1-0 victory. Sacred Heart last defeated Stony Brook in 1997, when both teams were members of the New England Collegiate Conference in NCAA Div. II.
Scouting Sacred Heart: The Pioneers have been picked to finish third in the 11-team NEC and are coming off the most successful season in the program's history. Last year, the team won a D-1 program record 11 games before falling short in the NEC semifinals. This year, the team returns 19 letterwinners, including eight starters. The team's top returner is 2010 NEC Defensive Player of the Year Marcello Castro, who in addition to stellar defense provided five goals and two assists. In goal, the team will have a veteran in senior Alex Fait, who had a 1.02 goals against average last season.
The High Point of the Weekend: The Seawolves topped High Point last Friday night 3-1 on the strength of goals by juniors Raphael Abreu, Kyle Schlesinger and Leonardo Fernandes. The win helped Stony Brook finish second at the four-team Flash Gordon Invitational, hosted by High Point University.
First Goal: Senior Steven Medwinter notched both the team's first goal of 2011 and his first career goal in a Stony Brook uniform. The goal came in the second half against Duquesne on Sept. 4 and helped the Seawolves to a 1-1 tie.
Main Manz: With a 0-0 tie against Lehigh in the regular season opener, junior goalkeeper Stefan Manz recorded his 10th career shutout. He had eight during the 2010 season.
Preseason Poll: The Seawolves were picked to finish fourth in the America East preseason poll, according to the league's eight head coaches. Stony Brook is behind defending champion UMBC, Boston University and New Hampshire.
Strong Incumbents: Stony Brook returns 18 letterwinners from last season's team that finish 10-7-3 and advanced to the America East Championship semifinals. Among the returnees are America East Midfielder of the Year Leonardo Fernandes and second-team All-America East forward Raphael Abreu. The team returns 92 percent of its goal scoring offense, and Fernandes, Abreu and Berian Gobeil Cruz combined to score 19 goals.
Going for the Title: The Seawolves previously have captured two America East Championships, winning titles in 2005 and 2009. The team will look to win its third championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament, where it previously has won with a 2005 victory over Yale.
