A Power(ful) Win
 
Our goal this year is to make history.
 
It was a goal that made history on Sunday. When Alyssa Francese drove home a penalty kick in overtime to lift our women's soccer team to a 2-1 win at Oregon State, it marked the first Power Five win in the program's history.


 
A major objective of our department is to defeat teams representing the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC. Those conferences are known as the Power Five for a reason. Their schools have sizable budgets thanks in large part to lucrative television contracts. From a recruiting standpoint Power Five schools have a distinct advantage because of national publicity that they receive.
 
If we aspire to be the best, we have to beat the best. Our teams always approach these opportunities with enthusiasm and purpose. Considering that the majority of these games are on the road, it makes the task more challenging. Last year our department earned nine wins over Power Five teams, the highest number in school history.
 
Total number of Power Five wins in each of the last five years:
 
2017-18: 9 (Men's Basketball – Rutgers; Softball – Rutgers, Pittsburgh; Women's Lacrosse – USC, Stanford, Northwestern, Michigan, Penn State, Johns Hopkins)
 
2016-17: 4 (Women's Lacrosse – Northwestern twice, USC, Colorado)
 
2015-16: 5 (Softball – Maryland; Men's Lacrosse – Rutgers; Women's Lacrosse – Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Boston College)
 
2014-15: 8 (Men's Basketball – Washington; Men's Lacrosse – Rutgers; Women's Lacrosse – USC, Notre Dame, Florida, Rutgers, Oregon, Northwestern)
 
2013-14: 4 (Baseball – USC; Volleyball – Syracuse; Men's Lacrosse – Rutgers; Women's Lacrosse – Rutgers)
 
Here is a rundown of our upcoming games against Power Five programs:
 
Tonight – Women's Soccer vs. No. 20 Notre Dame
Wednesday – Women's Soccer at Boston College
Sept. 1 – Volleyball vs. Maryland (at Akron Invitational)
Sept. 8 – Volleyball at Washington State
Oct. 9 – Men's Soccer at Penn State
Nov. 9 – Men's Basketball at South Carolina
Nov. 9 – Women's Basketball at Rutgers
Nov. 25 – Women's Basketball at Penn State
 
Women's Soccer earned the first and I'll be cheering for them to get number two tonight.
 
Dan Zamora Gets the Call


 
While writing last Thursday about Bobby Honeyman's outstanding start to his professional baseball career, I mentioned that "our list of Seawolves who have made it to the major leagues currently stands at four."
 
A few hours later that number jumped to five when Dan Zamora was promoted to the Mets. Dan's story is remarkable and serves as another testament to what is possible at Stony Brook. Like Travis Jankowski before him, Dan's only college offer coming out of high school was from Stony Brook. Unlike Travis, who was a first-round draft pick by the SanDiego Padres in 2012, Dan was selected in the 40^th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2015.
 
Since getting called up the Mets, who traded for him in January, Dan has yet to allow a run in four appearances out of the bullpen.  
 
Volleyball and Men's Soccer Open Tomorrow  


 
The volleyball team left this morning for Tampa where they will participate in the season-opening USF Invitational. Kristin Belzung begins her second year at Stony Brook after leading the team to their first-ever America East championship.
 
Tomorrow will feature matches against Jacksonville and San Jose State before the team takes on USF on Saturday.


 
Ryan Anatol's men's soccer team is in our nation's capital where they will battle George Washington tomorrow night. The game can be viewed on ESPN+ (which will also be the home for a large number of Stony Brook basketball games). Men's Soccer will also be in action at LaValle Stadium on Monday at 7 p.m. against St. Francis. Be sure to get your Seawolves Soccer Pass and catch all of the great action at LaValle all year long.
 
Welcome Back!
 
The best part of this week is welcoming back all of our student-athletes in advance of the first day of classes on Monday. My favorite event of the year is our annual Student-Athlete Welcome Back, which takes place on Sunday at Island Federal Credit Union Arena.
 
It's going to be a big year for your Seawolves so get ready for greatness! By the way, our football team is looking VERY strong. Time to get ALL IN!
 
Keep believing!
 
Warm regards,


 
Shawn