Competing for the championship spot in the Long Island Cup, the men’s lacrosse teams of the Stony Brook University Seawolves and the St. John’s University Red Storm faced off on Friday, Feb. 25, at James M. Shuart Stadium. The Seawolves came out on top 17-10. 

St. John’s had a quick start, scoring two goals less than 4:30 into the first quarter of the game, both within two minutes of each other. This prompted a response from the Stony Brook attack, who went on a four-goal run in the next 2:30. The two teams continued to tussle back and forth for the ball, bringing the score up to 5-4 with the Seawolves leading.

The second quarter had a complete change of pace, but not for Stony Brook’s Kevin Mack, who scored two goals in rapid succession. They came 70 seconds apart and completed his first hat trick at Stony Brook.

As Stony Brook’s offense worked overtime, the defense did the same. St. John’s forceful attack prompted two saves by goalie Anthony Palma. However, the Red Storm was able to get two goals past the Seawolves’ defense and goalie at the start of the third quarter. Just like in the first quarter, this elicited another response from the Seawolves, with a five-goal run making it look like they had real estate property in the enemy team’s crease. The last goal of the third quarter marked the greatest point difference so far in the game, with Stony Brook leading the charge 14-6.

“Coming in [after halftime] we kind of reset,” Stony Brook midfielder Matt Anderson said. “We knew we didn’t play our best half. We acclimated to the game.”

The final quarter had the most back-and-forth goals of the entire game. St. John’s scored first, 59 seconds into the quarter, and then with 9:47 left on the clock, Anderson responded with his fourth of the night, tying his career-high of four goals in a single game. The ball flew back and forth between the nets for the remaining time, bringing the final score to 17-10 with the Stony Brook Seawolves victorious.

The idea of the Long Island Cup was brought to fruition by Hofstra University’s very own head coach Seth Tierney and St. John’s head coach Jason Miller. “Coach Tierney and Coach Miller came up with the idea,” said Stony Brook head coach Anthony Gilardi. “It obviously wasn’t able to happen last year, but those guys talked me into it this year, and it turned out to be a great idea and a great day.”

The Seawolves are set to face off against Long Island University for the championship title on Sunday, Feb. 27, at 12 p.m., and St. John’s is set to play Hofstra at 3 p.m. on the same day for third place in the tournament.

Photo courtesy of Adam Flash/The Hofstra Chronicle