Sept. 18, 2011
Men's Soccer Gameday
Game #7: Stony Brook Seawolves (1-3-2) vs. Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (3-1-1)
Sun., Sept. 18 • LaValle Stadium • Stony Brook, N.Y. • 5 p.m.
LIVE: STATS | VIDEO
Stony Brook Seawolves (1-3-2, 0-0 America East)
Head Coach: Ryan Anatol, first season
Career Record: 1-3-2
Record at SBU: same
Fairleigh Dickinson Knights (3-1-1, 0-0-0 Northeast)
Head Coach: Seth Roland, 15th season
Career Record: 271-164-44
Record at FDU: 151-100-32
The Scene: Stony Brook continues its three-game homestand with a Sunday evening battle against Fairleigh Dickinson of the Northeast Conference. This is SBU's second straight match against a member of the NEC, a traditionally strong soccer conference. This is the sixth all-time meeting between the two teams, and the Knights have come away with wins in all five of the previous matchups. This is the first meeting since 2006, and this is Fairleigh Dickinson's first trip to Stony Brook since 1974.
Last Time Out: The Seawolves' home opener was a gritty battle that SBU came up short on in a 1-0 loss to Sacred Heart. The Seawolves outshot the Pioneers 16-8 and had numerous shots hit off the post, but it was Sacred Heart who tallied a goal when Marcello Castro took a free kick from 30 yards out and nailed it in the top right of the goal for the score. The Seawolves had an outstanding chance to tie late in the game, but Serigne Sylla's header shot barely missed the net and clanged off the post.
Scouting Fairleigh Dickinson: The Knights are off to a strong start on the season, winning three of the first five games this season. They are coming off a 1-1 tie at home vs. Yale Friday night. The one loss on the season was to fellow America East squad UMBC two weekends ago in Baltimore. The team has been picked to finish second in the 11-team NEC, behind defending champion Monmouth. Anthony Moore leads FDU with two goals this season, and goalkeeper Jacob Lissek has an outstanding .867 save percentage, averaging 5.2 saves per match.
The High Point of the Weekend: The Seawolves topped High Point 3-1 on Sept. 9 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. The victory was the first in the career of head coach Ryan Anatol.
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.
