SYRACUSE, N.Y. – No. 14 Stony Brook women's lacrosse put forth a valiant effort, but was defeated by No. 3 Syracuse, 15-10, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Seawolves' season comes to an end after posting 18 victories and earning their 11^th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
 
Syracuse opened up a 6-2 lead in the first quarter as it received goals from five different scorers. Stony Brook chipped away at the early deficit in the second quarter as senior midfielder Ellie Masera scored back-to-back goals over the first five minutes of the frame to cut the lead to 6-4.
 
After a Syracuse goal, graduate midfielder Charlotte Verhulst scored a woman up goal to bring the deficit to two, 7-5, with 6:40 to play in the second. The Orange halted Stony Brook's run by getting a stop on the defensive end at the 5:34 mark in the second and went on to score four out of the last five goals in the quarter to take an 11-6 lead into the halftime break.
 
Stony Brook and Syracuse played an even final 30 minutes as each team scored four goals apiece and the Orange secured a 15-10 victory. Graduate attack Kailyn Hart recorded her third goal of the game with 11:20 to go in the third quarter, which marked her 14^th hat trick of the season.
 
Masera, Hart, and Verhulst all registered major career milestones in the season finale. Masera totaled four draw controls to set the Stony Brook program record with 390 to move past Kerri McCarthy who totaled 387 draw controls from 2016-19.
 
Hart racked up five points with three goals and two assists in the final game of her collegiate career. With her five points, she surpassed the 300-point plateau in her career. She became the sixth player in program history to reach 300 points and finished her career with 302 points (73 goals, 19 assists).
 
Verhulst found the back of the net once and in doing so registered her 100^th career point. The midfielder totaled 59 points this season which included 42 goals and 17 assists, for her career, she finished with 71 goals and 29 assists for 100 points.   
 
STATS AND NOTES

• Stony Brook played in its 11^th straight NCAA Tournament second round.
• The Seawolves' season-long 13-game winning streak came to an end. The 13-game streak was the longest such streak since winning 14 games in a row during the 2022 season.
• Hart tallied five points (three goals, two assists). It was her 14^th game with five or more points in addition to recording her 14^th hat trick of the season.
• Masera finished with three points (two goals, one assist) and four draw controls. The senior closed the season with 117 points, 77 goals, 40 assists, and 145 draw controls. Masera's 117 points are the fourth-most in single-season in program history, while her 77 goals are the seventh-most. She finished her career ranked first in draw controls (390), fourth in goals (232), and fifth in points (317) in Stony Brook history.
• Junior defender Avery Hines caused three turnovers and picked up four ground balls.
• Senior defender Clare Levy scored a goal, caused two turnovers, picked up two ground balls, and registered three draw controls.
• Graduate goalie Emily Manning made eight saves to tie her season-high.
• Senior midfielder Jaden Hampel scored two goals for her fourth multi-goal game of the season. 

QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
 
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