by Michelle Rabinovich
The No. 5 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team opened their season with a 17-10 win over the No. 18 University of Michigan at home in Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.
“We had a great effort,” said Stony Brook head women’s lacrosse coach Joe Spallina. “Our [players] stepped up, we played really well; we just have so many different weapons.”
Both teams got on the board in the fourth minute of the first quarter, starting with the University of Michigan’s Annabelle Burke off a free position shot. Less than 40 seconds later, Jaden Hampel put up the equalizer courtesy of a feed from Charlotte Verhulst. Hampel made it a 2-1 game with an unassisted goal about a minute later with just under 11 minutes to go in the first frame.
Senior midfielder Erin MacQuarrie took inspiration from that as she found the back of the net on her own with just over six minutes to go.
The Seawolves maintained their dominance on the pitch with a slick behind-the-back pass from MacQuarrie to senior attacker Kailyn Hart right as she was cutting through the crease for a 4-1 lead. The Wolverines had something to say about that with an unassisted goal from Jill Smith to wrap up the first quarter behind the home team 4-2.
The Seawolves dominated the second quarter, opening it by going on a 3-0 scoring run with Casey Colbert’s goal just a minute into the period. 11 seconds later Ellie Masera brought the score to 6-2 when she got the best of the Michigan defense. Rounding out the lightning fast second quarter was Kailyn Hart’s free position goal.
Smith pressed pause on the Seawolves’ offense as she netted a goal of her own, the Wolverine’s first of the second quarter. Michigan didn’t show much of a crease presence after that, as marked by three more goals from Masera, Hampel and Verhulst for Stony Brook to be the first to be in double digits on the scoreboard in the match.
With just over 2:30 left to go, Masera completed a hat trick to bring the score to 11-3 to finish up the first half of the season opener.
Back from the halftime break, Smith took the Wolverines’ scoring fate into her hands once, completing a hat trick just over three minutes into the third frame with an underhook shot. The Seawolves kept their foot on the gas in the third period as well, as seen by goals from Morgan Mitchell, Hampel and Masera to maintain a 15-4 lead.
The only thing Michigan’s Kaley Thompson could do to chip away at the lead was score on a caused turnover but with a minute left in the third period there’s only so much damage that could be done as the two teams went into the fourth 15-5.
Michigan’s Josie Gooch opened the scoring in the final quarter of the evening, soon equalized by the Stony Brook’s Mitchell.
In search for a comeback bid, Erin Garvey netted a goal for Michigan to tighten the scoring gap to 16-7. No such luck for the Wolverines as Alexandra Fusco got the better of the visiting goalie to keep the 10-point stalemate at 17-7.
Michigan’s Lily Montemarano got a piece of the actions with back to back goals within 60 seconds, but it wasn’t just the overcast weather that looked bleak for the visiting Wolverines.
With 40 seconds to go, the Wolverine cracked into the double digits thanks to Garvey’s crease-cutting goal, but that’s all the damage they could mound as the buzzer.
Overall, Stony Brook coach Joe Spallina had a plenty of praise to go around for his athletes.
“When you talk about complete players, I put [Masera] at the top of the list; four goals, seven draw controls, three ground balls, she’s a game changer,” Spallina said. “[The players] are not just one trick ponies.”
