Men's Lacrosse Winning Streak Halted at 3

By William Lahti

For Men's Lacrosse, Spring Break saw the emergence of freshman Jordan McBride, an unprecedented upset, a blowout, and a last-second defeat.

On March 15, the team faced the #7 Delaware Blue Hens on the road, and came away with the 19-16 win. Since becoming a Division I team, the team had never beaten such a high-ranked team. McBride had 10 goals, breaking the Stony Brook record of 8 (3 times). His 2 assists gave him a school record-tying 12 points. The Division I records are 11 and 14, respectively.

The game went back-and-forth. Delaware was up 2-0 only 1:21 into the game. With 5:59 left in the first, the Seawolves tied it at 2 with a goal from Bobby Trenkle. 15 seconds later, McBride scored his first goal of the game to give SBU their first lead of the game. The teams exchanged goals in the early stages of the 2nd quarter, before Delaware scored 3 goals in a row to take a 7-6 lead. Goals from Bo Tripodi and McBride helped SB tie the game at 8 at halftime.

Delaware scored 4 goals in under 4 minutes to get up 12-8. SB answered with a goal from Owen Adams, followed by 4 from McBride. Delaware answered with a goal from Sean Kostkowski, which SB countered with 4 more goals to go up 17-13. They made it 19-14 with 6:57 to play. Delaware picked up 2 goals in the closing moments, but wasn't enough to avoid the loss.

Following the win, Stony Brook moved to #20 in the Inside Lacrosse/Nike media poll.

SB began a 3 game homestand on March 18 with a blowout win against the Lafayette Leopards. SB's lead was 12-4 early in the 4th, with the Leopards closing to 12-8 only after SB Head Coach Rick Sowell called off his starters.

SB scored the first 3 goals of the game, with the first 2 coming from McBride, and was up 4-1 at the end of the first quarter. After 1 more from McBride, the Leopards closed the gap to 5-4 with 5:16 to play in the 2nd quarter. SB went on a tear, going on a 7-0 run to make it 12-4. The Leopards scored 4 unanswered goals in the late stages of the game, while the less experienced Seawolves got some playing time.

Sowell called the offense “potent,” in a game with a “torrid pace.” He called McBride “unselfish,” and pointed out the team's depth.

McBride's parents were on hand for the game, and stuck around for the Denver game. This was their first time at one of his collegiate games. A humble McBride said “I still think I could do better.”

The Seawolves finished spring break with a 14-13 defeat at the hands of the Denver Pioneers, coming on a goal by Denver's Charley Dickinson with 4 seconds left to play. This ended their 3-game winning streak.

SB's biggest weakness against Denver was on face-offs. They won only 7 of 31, and only 1 in the second half. The game also highlighted the depth of the team, with goals scored by 9 different players, including 2 goals for McBride, who entered the game leading the country in goals per game. He now has 25 on the year, halfway to the school record of 50, nearly halfway through the season. In addition, freshman Timmy Trenkle, brother of senior Bobby Trenkle, got his first career goal.

The Seawolves are now 3-3, with conference play to begin at #13 UMBC on Saturday, in what will be one of the most crucial games of the year.