The Stony Brook Women’s Soccer team received its second consecutive shutout loss Thursday night, this time losing 1-0 to the Hartford Hawks at Al-Marzook Field in Hartford, Connecticut. The match was decided early in the game on the first career goal from Hartford freshman midfielder Hayley Nolan.
Nolan, who was a member of her native Ireland’s U19 National Team, scored in the 14th minute to give her team the early lead. The assist on the play can be attributed to junior forward Aaliyah Ingram. The goal would be all Hartford needed in what was a very hard-fought defensive game by both sides.
It could have been worse for the Seawolves had it not been for junior goalie Emily Doherty’s diving save in the 38th minute on a corner kick that ricocheted off the head of Hawks junior midfielder Caitlin Smallfield.
With time winding down towards the end of the game, the Seawolves pushed the pace and tried to tie it up and force a golden goal overtime, but it was to no avail. The biggest problem Stony Brook had all night was its inability to make effective passes in the middle of the pitch, as Hartford had demonstrated.
Aside from the goal by Nolan early in the first half, Doherty played well saving the four other shots on goal. The Hawks junior goalkeeper Jessica Jurg provided an unblemished line in her stellar performance.
Stony Brook came into the game as the underdogs, with Hartford holding the conference’s best overall record at 7-2-2, and tried to set the tone early commanding possession in the first ten minutes of regulation.
But four of the five shots at goal by Stony Brook were from distance as they were unable to get clear shots inside. It was evident that the Hawks front four came to play Thursday night as the Seawolves struggled to ever really string together any close shots at goal.
Stony Brook heads back home to continue its quest for its first conference victory of the season, playing host to the Albany Great Danes at 7 p.m. next Thursday at LaValle Stadium.
Tim Oakes
Tim is a senior journalism major. He joined the Statesman back in the fall of 2015 as a contributing sports writer. Since then he has written stories on almost every Stony Brook sport, including two consecutive years of in-depth coverage of the Stony Brook Baseball team. You can contact him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @TimOakesBlog
