| GAME 9: Stony Brook (5-3, 1-1 AE) vs No. 8 Albany (7-1, 2-0 AE) |
| LOCATION |
Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium | Stony Brook, N.Y. |
| DATE | TIME |
Saturday, April 1 | 7 p.m. |
| COVERAGE |
Live Stats | Watch |
| SOCIAL |
@StonyBrookMLax | #DefendTheIsland |
| TICKETS |
Purchase Here |
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The Stony Brook men's lacrosse team returns home to host No. 8/8 Albany Saturday night under the lights at LaValle Stadium. The Seawolves are coming off their first conference win of the season after topping Hartford over the weekend, while Albany snuck by Harvard in the midweek to extend its winning streak to seven games.
Seawolves Notes
- Ryan Bitzer is coming off of a four-goal game at Hartford and currently ranks 15th in the nation with 2.13 assist per game.
- Alex Corpolongo has scored in each of the last 26 games of his career, marking the second-longest active streak in the nation. He leads the team with 20 goals on the year.
- Michael Bollinger made his first start in goal at Hartford and earned his first decision, picking up the win while making 10 saves.
- Ryland Rees returned for the Seawolves at Hartford and picked up five ground balls.
- As a team, the Seawolves rank in the top 25 in the nation in assists (7.00), ground balls (29.25), man-up offense (.400) and points (18.88).
- Albany is the fourth top-10 opponent the Seawolves have faced this season. They notched their second win in program history over a top-10 team after knocking off then-No. 10 Brown early in the season.
Scouting Albany
The Great Danes enter the weekend with a 7-1 record on the season, sitting at 2-0 in league play. They opened the season with a 10-9 loss at then-No. 6 Syracuse and have not dropped a game since. Albany is coming off of a 15-13 win at Harvard earlier this week as things remained close all game, but three goals in less than 30 seconds just before halftime positioned the Great Danes to never trail again. Albany leads the country in assists (10.75), points (27.63) scoring margin (7.75) and scoring offense (16.88), also ranking in the top five in four other categories.
The nation's leading scorer, Connor Fields is putting away 3.8 goals per game for the Great Danes this season, while also averaging a national-best 7.13 points per game. TD Ierlan also ranks among the top two in the nation in face-off percentage (.695) and ground balls (11.38). JD Colarusso has been a staple in cage for the Great Danes this season, playing all but 42 minutes. He boasts the team's record and a .594 save percentage, good for eighth in the country.
Series Info
Albany leads the all-time series 19-13, while the Seawolves hold the 9-7 edge in Stony Brook. The Great Danes have taken each of the last seven meetings, after snapping Stony Brook's seven-game streak in the series in 2013. Albany claimed last year's meeting, 16-10 in the state's capital.
Last Time Out
Stony Brook picked up its first America East win of the season as it claimed a 13-9 victory at Hartford last weekend. The Seawolves got things going early, jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the first quarter with three goals coming from senior
Ryan Bitzer (Riverhead, N.Y.). Stony Brook continued to cruise, taking a 7-3 lead into the break. Hartford was able to get within three late in the game, but the Seawolves never slowed.
Against Ranked Opponents
The Seawolves sit at 15-84 against teams ranked in the top 20 since the 1989 season, their first at the Division I level. They have now taken down two top 10 opponents, knocking off then-No. 7 Delaware, 19-16, on March 15, 2008 and topping then-No. 10 Brown, 25-17, this season. Stony Brook went 2-2 against ranked competition last season as it took down then-No. 16 Rutgers (15-6) and No. 12 Hofstra (13-5) in back-to-back games. In addition to a loss to Brown, Stony Brook fell at No. 11 Albany, 16-10. This was the second time in Division I program history that the Seawolves had taken down ranked opponents in back-to-back outings, also doing so in 2005.
Scoring Streak
Senior
Alex Corpolongo (Purdys, N.Y.) boasts the second longest active scoring streak in the nation, having put away a goal in each of the last 26 games. The streak began at the end of the 2015 regular season when the Seawolves topped Hartford 9-8 in overtime. His 26-game streak with a point ranks 17th in the nation.
Senior Leaders
Corpolongo and Bitzer have stepped up big for the Seawolves this season as both players rank in the top 25 in the nation in at least one offensive category. Corpolongo leads the team in scoring (20), while Bitzer has taken on the role of set-up man, leading the way with 17 assists to go with 30 points on the year. Corpolongo tallied five points last week, putting away three goals at Hofstra and adding two points in the team's first league win at Hartford. Bitzer went off for an 11-point week as he was in on nearly every goal at Hofstra and added four scores and an assist against the Hawks.
Immediate Impact
The Seawolves have seen an immediate impact from their freshman class early in the year.
Harrison Matsuoka (Calgary, Alberta, Canada),
Tom Haun (Sachem, N.Y.),
Wayne White (Huntington, N.Y.),
Connor Grippe (Setauket, N.Y.) and
Cory VanGinhoven (Fort Mill, N.C.) lead the newcomers as each has played in every game so far this season. The group has combined for 43 of the team's 95 goals to far this year, and also tallied 18 assists, 29 ground balls and six caused turnovers.
