STONY BROOK, N.Y. – For the second year in a row, the No. 14 Stony Brook women's lacrosse team has won the CAA Championship after defeating the No. 2 seed Drexel, 9-6. With the win, the Seawolves earn their 11
th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, a streak that dates back to the 2013 season and they extended their season-long winning streak to 12 games in a row.
Stony Brook captured its 10
th conference championship title in program history (two CAA, eight America East) and won its ninth at home inside Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.
The Seawolves were fueled by a standout defensive effort en route to victory as they limited the Dragons to just six goals, 15 shots, and eight shots on goal. In addition, the Stony Brook defense forced 18 turnovers and held Drexel's top scorer Corinne Bednarik to just one goal and a season-high seven turnovers.
After trailing 2-0 midway through the second quarter, Stony Brook senior defender
Clare Levy charged towards goal with a full head of steam and found the back of the net for the Seawolves' first goal of the game. The Stony Brook crowd erupted when Levy scored, and it gave the Seawolves the momentum that it needed to close out the first half.
Drexel took a narrow 3-2 lead into the halftime break after the teams traded goals to close out the second quarter. Stony Brook took control of the game in the second half and used a 6-0 run to take the lead and never looked back.
The run was fueled by five different goal scorers as
Ellie Masera (scored twice), graduate attack
Kailyn Hart, graduate midfielder
Charlotte Verhulst, graduate midfielder
Erin MacQuarrie, and graduate attack
Morgan Mitchell all tallied goals over the run.
Masera led all players with a game-high three goals to pace the scoring for the Seawolves. Hart registered a pair of goals for her 15
th multi-goal performance of the season and 11
th in a row. The aforementioned Levy, Verhulst, Mitchell and MacQuarrie all tallied one goal apiece.
Verhulst helped the Seawolves win the battle for the draws as she recorded a season-high seven draw controls, which allowed Stony Brook to out-draw Drexel, 12-5. Masera added a pair of draw controls and set the Seawolves' single-season record for most draw controls with 136. The senior moved past Kerri McCarthy, who previously held the record with 135 draw controls in 2018.
Defensively, Hines continued her dominance as she caused five more turnovers and she too set a Stony Brook single-season record. With her 60 caused turnovers, Hines moves past Brook Gubitosi (55 in 2017) for the most caused turnovers in a single season in program history.
Four Seawolves earned All-Championship Team honors for their standout play in the tournament. Masera, Verhulst, Hart, and Levy were named members of the All-Championship Team, with Masera taking home the Most Outstanding Performer honor.
STATS AND NOTES
- Stony Brook's 17 wins this season are currently tied for the most in the nation at the conclusion of today's game.
- The Seawolves move to 19-0 in conference and conference tournament games as a member of the CAA.
- Masera scored a game-high three goals, two of which came off free position shots. The senior also added two draw controls and set the Stony Brook single-season record for draw controls.
- Hart found the back of the net twice for her 15th multi-goal game of the season.
- Hines' five caused turnovers set the Stony Brook single-season record for caused turnovers. She has caused multiple turnovers in 16 games this season and has caused five or more in five of those games. The junior also picked up four ground balls.
- Verhulst tallied a season-high four draw controls, which were two shy of her career high, which she set in 2022.
- Mitchell scored a goal and dished out an assist for her sixth multi-point performance of the season.
- Senior goalie Aaliyah Jones made a pair of saves and picked up her eighth win in net.
- The 12-game winning streak is the longest such streak since winning 14 games in a row during the 2022 season. Stony Brook has outscored its opponents 192-82 over the streak.
- Head coach Joe Spallina is now 21-1 in conference tournament games as Stony Brook head coach and the Seawolves have won 20 consecutive conference tournament games under him.
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
NEXT UP
Stony Brook is headed to the NCAA Tournament for the 11
th year in a row and awaits its opening round opponent which will be announced during tomorrow night's selection show which airs at 9 p.m., on ESPN2.
For an inside look at the Seawolves women's lacrosse program, be sure to follow them on
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