FAIRFIELD, Conn. — Caleb Pearson had provided the dramatic overtime goal for the Stony Brook men's lacrosse team in its season opener against St. John's.
And the sophomore midfielder quickly provided a spark in Game 2 as well.
However, host Fairfield overtook the Seawolves after intermission en route to an 18-16 victory at Rafferty Stadium.
The Seawolves made a late push, getting four straight goals, including a pair from
Cory VanGinhoven, to pull within 16-14 with 3 minutes, 43 seconds remaining in the game. But the comeback bid stalled there as Fairfield tallied the next two goals.
Stony Brook dropped to 1-1 on the young season.
Pearson had scored 59 seconds into the game.
Then, after goals by teammates
Patrick Kaschalk,
Matt Anderson and
Wayne White, Pearson struck again to stake Stony Brook to a 5-0 advantage with 5:55 remaining in the first quarter.
Fairfield answered with four straight goals, but
Tom Haun — another Game 1 hero — stopped the bleeding with back-to-back goals for a three-goal lead.
After another Fairfield push, Haun provided an 8-6 lead when he converted a hat trick for the second straight game.
From there, however, Fairfield (1-0) took charge. The Stags tallied eight of the next nine goals to take a 14-9 lead into the fourth quarter.
Anthony Palma made his collegiate debut in goal for the Seawolves when he took over for
Michael Bollinger to begin the final period.
But Fairfield upped its lead to 15-9 before the Seawolves snapped their scoreless drought at nearly 20 minutes on a goal by Anderson with 11:31 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Pearson recorded a career-high four goals.
Stony Brook returns to action next Saturday when it hosts Brown at 1 p.m. at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.
"Lacrosse is a game of runs," first-year coach
Anthony Gilardi said. "That's what makes it exciting. When you're on a run, you've got to take as much as you can get when you can get it. And then, when the other team is going on a run, you've got to stop it. You've got to stop it with being disciplined in the face-off X, being disciplined on offense, being disciplined on defense. And then you go on another run.
"In the third quarter we allowed their run to dictate the game. We talk about being the tougher team every time we play. And we were not the tougher team today."
