Stony Brook Women’s Soccer Falls To Hartford In Overtime; Will Host Vermont In Opening Round Of America East Playoffs
Stony Brook – The Stony Brook women’s soccer team came up just short in its regular season finale as it fell to Hartford, 1-0, in overtime Sunday afternoon. Now sitting at 9-7-2 on the year, 6-2-0 in American East, the season isn’t over yet for the Seawolves as they finished third in the conference and will host a playoff game on Thursday, Oct. 27. Hartford clinched the two-seed in the tournament with the victory, and moved to 12-4-1, 6-1-1 in the league.
Faherty’s Reaction
“I thought it was a great game today. I think there were stretches where Hartford was really in control of the game and I thought that we were really able to control the game for stretches,” said head coach Brendan Faherty. “We had some chances on corner kicks and we fouled a little bit more than I would have liked, but we gave them quite a few opportunities on restarts inside the attacking third and they were able to capitalize.”
Highlights
- Prior to the game the Seawolves honored their seven seniors, Raven Edwards, Christina Fluman,Hannah Groth, Lindsay Hutchinson, Lauren Kovalchuk, Amy Thompson and Priscilla Wiggins, as they played their final regular season game in LaValle Stadium.
- Hartford took a corner with just under 15 minutes remaining in the game, but Priscilla Wiggins (Fresno, Calif.) was able to clear it out after the ball bounced around in front of the goal.
- A minute later, Hannah Groth (Cedarburg, Wisc.) sent in a corner to the near post for the Seawolves that nearly deflected in but Stony Brook was unable to capitalize on the rebound.
- Sophomore keeper Cara Gallagher (Massapequa, N.Y.), who tallied three of her four saves in the final 10 minutes of regulation, came up big with just under five minutes remaining as she made a diving stop after the initial Hartford shot ricocheted off the crossbar and Kaila Lozada immediately headed another attempt her way.
- The game was decided in the 99th minute as Hartford’s Sierra Stone sent a free kick into the box and Caitlin Smallfield was able to score as her header hit the left post, rolled across the goal line and went in off the right post.
Notes
- Stony Brook’s 6-2-0 record in America East play is good for third in the league, which awards the Seawolves with their first playoff appearance since the 2013 season.
- It was an aggressive and evenly matched game throughout the afternoon as both teams went into the halftime break with four shots apiece, but the Hawks turned up the attack late to take the shooting edge 13-7.
- This was the first time the Seawolves have allowed a goal at home since the Delaware game on Sept 16.
- The loss snapped a program Division I record six-game win streak.
Up Next
Stony Brook finished the regular season No. 3 in the America East standings, which earns the squad home-field advantage for the opening round of the playoffs. The Seawolves will host six-seed Vermont on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.
Photo: Stony Brook Athletics-Jim Harrison
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