STONY BROOK, N.Y. – No. 12 Stony Brook women's lacrosse took a 20-8 victory over Villanova, highlighted by
Ellie Masera setting a program record with 17 draw controls at LaValle Stadium on Saturday.
The Seawolves improved to 4-0 on the season while Villanova suffered their third straight defeat, falling to 2-4.
Offensively, the Seawolves were led by three five-goal performances, coming from Masera, graduate student
Kailyn Hart and graduate student
Charlotte Verhulst. Graduate student
Alex Finn added a hat trick. Masera added three assists for eight points, Hart and Verhulst had six points while Finn put up five.
Stony Brook got a career-high four caused turnovers from junior
Avery Hines and three ground balls from freshman
Isabella Caporuscio. Hines, graduate student
Erin MacQuarrie and juniors
Jordan Forte and
Alexandra Fusco each came up with two ground balls. Graduate student
Emily Manning made eight saves on a .500 save percentage on the day.
In addition to Masera's record-breaking total on the draw, Verhulst added four of her own, and Caporuscio and senior
Clare Levy each had two..
For Villanova, Sydney Pappas scored four goals and Sami Carey added two.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Stony Brook took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 with goals from MacQuarrie and Finn. Manning made four early saves to preserve the lead. Hart then extended the lead with two goals before Finn scored twice from in close to make things 6-1.
- Up 7-3 in the second, Hart and Verhulst each struck to put the Seawolves up 9-3.
- Villanova responded with two of their own to make things 9-5. However, Verhulst netted her second and Caporuscio finished off a free-position attempt to put SBU up 11-5 heading into the break.
- Masera had 12 draw controls before halftime, tying her previous career high in the first 30 minutes.
- Hart put the Seawolves up 12-5 early in the third. After two Villanova tallies put the Wildcats within five, Masera broke the run with two of her own for the hat trick, followed by two more from Verhulst for a 16-7 lead.
- The Seawolves scored all four goals in the fourth, with tallies from Verhulst and Hart before Masera finished off the game with the last two strikes.
NOTES, TRENDS AND RECORDS
- Masera's record contributed to a dominating 25-7 draw total for Stony Brook. The 25 draws tied the most in SBU single-game history, having been reached against New Hampshire on April 15, 2018.
- Stony Brook had a .781 draw control percentage on the day.
- The previous individual record of 16 draw controls was reached by Keri McCarthy vs. Vermont on March 30, 2018. Masera also broke the CAA record for single-game draw controls, which was 14 done three times.
- The Seawolves out-shot the Wildcats 40-22, reaching 40 shots in a game since they fired 41 at Delaware's cage on March 18, 2023.
- Stony Brook scored 20 goals in back-to-back games for the first time since doing so in four straight games from April 15-April 28 in 2018.
- Stony Brook extended its nation-leading home winning streak to 38 games.
- Verhulst's five goals and six points were both career highs.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
UP NEXT
Stony Brook begins its road slate on Tuesday, March 5 at Syracuse, with first draw set for 6 p.m. on ACCNX. The Seawolves are 1-5 against the Orange all-time, defeating them at the JMA Wireless Dome 17-16 on Feb. 10, 2020.
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