In most conferences, a matchup pitting the league’s top two teams against each other would be a close, exciting affair.
In women’s lacrosse, the America East is not most conferences.
No. 6 Stony Brook proved its separation above its peers once again at Albany on Saturday, as the Seawolves defeated the Great Danes, 13-4, in the regular season finale, clinching home-field advantage in the America East Tournament next weekend.
Albany has become notorious for employing a slow pace against Stony Brook in the past, keeping the score low and keeping the game close. But this weekend, the Great Danes tried to match the Seawolves’ style and the result was not a favorable one for the home team.
Stony Brook ran away with the contest out of the gate, jumping out to a 7-1 advantage with 18:21 remaining in the first half. After Albany junior attacker Dakotah Savitcheff scored one goal to narrow the margin to 7-2, Stony Brook’s offense exploded again, as the Seawolves scored six more goals to take a 13-2 advantage late in the second half.
Albany added a pair of tallies to bring the score to 13-4, but the damage was already done. Stony Brook’s nine-goal win over its rival was the most goals by which the Seawolves have beaten the Great Danes since April 2012, when Stony Brook won 16-5.
Junior midfielder Dorrien Van Dyke and junior attacker Courtney Murphy each scored four goals for the Seawolves, whose 12-game winning streak is tied for the longest in school history. Van Dyke now has 44 goals this season, while Murphy has 85 goals — five shy of the Stony Brook single-season record.
Junior attacker Alyssa Guido scored a goal and divvied out three assists for the Seawolves. Guido, who made her eighth start of the season for Stony Brook, has 12 points in her last three games.
The America East Tournament will begin on Friday evening, with top-seeded Stony Brook playing against New Hampshire in the first semifinals at 5 p.m..
Skyler Gilbert
Skyler is a junior journalism major and political science minor. He began writing for The Statesman in fall of 2014 and has since covered every Stony Brook sport, including men's basketball and women's lacrosse NCAA Tournament games in Des Moines and Boston, respectively. He hails from Ticonderoga, which is a real place, and hopes to someday achieve fame as a national sports reporter. He can tune a fife, but he can't tuna fish. His twitter is @SkylerJGilbert. Contact Skyler at: [email protected]
