BALTIMORE, Md. – For the seventh season in a row the No. 10 Stony Brook women's lacrosse team is headed to the second round of the NCAA Tournament after it defeated No. 20 Penn State, 12-8, on Friday night. The Seawolves improved to 8-0 all-time in the first round of the NCAA Tournament with the win.
Stony Brook started the game off with a bang as it scored three goals in the first 4:32 of the contest. Junior midfielder
Ellie Masera got the scoring started for the Seawolves with a goal that was set up by senior attacker
Morgan Mitchell at the 12:25 mark in the first quarter. For Masera, it was her first of three goals on the night as the CAA Midfielder of the Year and USA Lacrosse Magazine All-American paced the Stony Brook offensive attack.
Following the Seawolves' 3-0 run to start the game, Penn State went on a run of its own as it scored five consecutive goals from the 6:19 mark in the first quarter until there was 3:13 to play in the second. Masera broke the Nittany Lions' scoring run as she sliced through the defense to score her second goal of the game and cut the deficit to 5-4.
From the point forward, Stony Brook went on to outscore Penn State, 9-3, en route to the 12-8 victory. After Masera scored in the second, senior attacker
Morgan Mitchell and junior midfielder
Jaden Hampel added goals in the closing minutes of the quarter. The 3-0 run at the end of the first half was the momentum that the Seawolves needed heading into the halftime break as they doubled up the Nittany Lions over the final 30 minutes, 6-3.
Stony Brook tallied a pair of highlight reel goals in the fourth quarter which helped seal the win. With 8:27 to play in the fourth, senior attacker
Kailyn Hart found the back of the net after being blanked by two defenders. Hart gathered, spun right, and fired a righty shot into the back of the net for her third goal of the contest.
The Seawolves' next goal came shortly after as senior midfielder
Charlotte Verhulst sent a behind-the-back shot past the goalie to put Stony Brook up 11-7 with 6:44 to play in the game.
On the defensive end of the field, Stony Brook limited to Penn State to just eight goals. It was the fourth time this season that Penn State scored eight goals or fewer in a game. It marked the 12
th time this season that the Seawolves held an opponent to single-digit goals and the fourth time in a row that they did so.
STATS AND NOTES
- Masera finished the game with a game-high four points as she tallied three goals and an assist. The junior added a team-best five draw controls in the win. It was her 16th hat trick of the season as she has recorded 70 goals in 2023. She is just the ninth player in program history to score 70 or more goals in a season and the first since Ally Kennedy scored 73 in 2021.
- Hart added a hat trick, her 13th of the season. The senior has recorded hat tricks in nine consecutive games.
- Verhulst totaled three points with two goals and an assist. It was her fourth-straight three-point game and eighth multi-goal game of the season.
- Mitchell recorded a three-point night with a goal and an assist. Hampel found the back of the night twice, her first multi-goal game since scoring a pair at Hofstra on April 28.
- Junior defender Clare Levy caused three turnovers, recorded four draw controls, and picked up two ground balls. Her three caused turnovers were her most in a game this season.
- Head coach Joe Spallina earned his 263rd career win.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
NEXT UP
Stony Brook is back on the field for the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, May 14, at 2 p.m., when it faces No. 9 Loyola Maryland. The game is set to broadcast on ESPN+. It marks just the third time in history that the Seawolves and Greyhounds will square off in women's lacrosse. The teams last met on March 24, 2010, when Loyola earned an 18-7 victory over the Seawolves in Baltimore.
For an inside look at the Seawolves women's lacrosse program, be sure to follow them on
Facebook,
Twitter and
Instagram.
