Welcome to May, which I am officially declaring "The Month of the Seawolf."

We have finally reached the home stretch of the longest, most complex year in our history. From the time sports shut down 14 months ago, our entire focus has been on coming back stronger than ever, using momentum from the spring as a bounce into the fall. Our expectation is to finish with a flurry of championships and our second consecutive America East Commissioner's Cup.

While our lacrosse teams begin their quest for America East championships this afternoon, on Friday we officially will introduce Ashley Langford as our new women's basketball coach. Ashley comes to us after a very successful stint as associate head coach at James Madison. 

As you will soon see, Ashley is a dynamic leader who will help us build upon the recent success of our women's basketball program. From our first Zoom meeting to having her on campus, Ashley blew me away with her vision for success. She's also extremely authentic and brings a high amount of energy to our department. Tune in Friday at 11 a.m. for her introductory press conference! 

Women's Lacrosse Seeking Eighth Straight Conference Crown 

There is no disputing the dominance of our women's lacrosse team. The results speak for themselves.

Winners of 52 consecutive America East contests and seven consecutive conference postseason championships, the No. 6 Seawolves head into this weekend's tournament with eyes squarely on the prize. Joe Spallina's squad once again rolled through the America East schedule, outscoring league opponents 148-53.

Once again the conference tournament will take place at LaValle Stadium. This afternoon's semifinal game against UMBC takes place at 3:30, to be followed by Albany-Vermont at 6:30. The championship game is set for Saturday at 1 p.m.

The success of our team is something I never take for granted. If you haven't read the fantastic piece that appeared in Wednesday's New York Times, please take a few minutes to give it a read. 

Our women's lacrosse team has set the standard for success both in our department and in America East. Seniors Ally Kennedy, Taryn Ohlmiller and Sydney Gagnon came back for one more shot at a national championship after the 2020 season was cut short. It's go time.  

Men's Lacrosse Opens Tournament Play Against Vermont

Last Saturday, our men's lacrosse team lost at Vermont 14-13 in a game that featured a controversial ending. Today's rematch in the America East semifinals presents an opportunity for our guys to get back to their winning ways and advance to Saturday's championship game.

I had just left our women's lacrosse game at LaValle Stadium on Saturday and was watching the end of the men's game on my phone in the car. The game was a back-and-forth battle, but when Chris Pickel Jr. scored for us to tie the score at 13 with just more than eight seconds left, I was fired up. On the ensuing faceoff, however, three seconds elapsed before the clock started, allowing Vermont extra time to race down the field and score the winning goal at the buzzer. Although there was no guarantee that we would have won in overtime, it left a fire in our guys that I'm confident will carry over to today.

In addition to our outstanding senior class that has been instrumental in our success, freshman Dylan Pallonetti made history as the first player to be named Rookie of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year in the same season.     

Baseball, Softball Continue to Lead

Our baseball and softball teams started at the top of the America East standings and will look to remain there as the regular season winds down.

This is a huge weekend for softball as UMBC comes to town for a three-game series that will determine the regular-season champion. Both teams sit atop the America East, with 9-4 records in conference play. The season-ending series will determine the host for the conference tournament. 

Baseball has amassed a substantial lead in the America East standings, leading Division B with a record of 18-6. (The conference established two divisions for this season only as a way to mitigate travel.) How substantial is our lead? NJIT is behind us in second with a 14-14 conference mark.

Track and Field Deliver Dominant Performances 

I continue to be amazed by the results turned in by our track and field teams, and last weekend did not disappoint.

Vann Moffett broke a 23-year-old conference record in the 5,000 meters to highlight a big weekend for the Seawolves at the America East Outdoor Championships. 

Richmond Boateng, who reset his own school record in the 400m hurdles, and Luke Coulter (800m) also delivered gold-medal performances for the men on the meet's second day. On the women's side, Amanda Stead continued her domination in the 200m and 400m, winning gold in both events. 

Cameron Avery set the tone for the weekend by winning gold in the 10,000m on the meet's opening day.

Up next … the NCAAs. Good luck to all of our runners who qualified!

The Wolfies!

 While we are looking forward to a weekend full of wins, I am very excited to celebrate our student-athletes next week at The Wolfies, our annual year-end awards show. Last year was an all-virtual event, but we're thrilled to be able to come together with our department inside Island Federal Arena on Monday. 

You can watch live on Twitter and see who our award winners will be

Finally… Thank You!

To all of our incredible Stony Brook Athletics supporters who made a gift on April 21 as part of Giving Day, I want to express my sincere gratitude. 

The campus-wide initiative generated 3,030 gifts totaling more than $370,000 to a multitude of programs. Of all campus departments, Athletics led the way with 331 gifts that brought in $33,000.

We must continue to push forward. We must continue to win. Most importantly, we must continue to believe in what we are building.

Keep believing!

Shawn