Women’s Lacrosse Breezes Past UMass

By Anthony Vertucci

Coming off a tough road loss at Johns Hopkins on March 3, the Stony Brook Seawolves (2-4) entered a rainy and windy LaValle Stadium today eager for a win against the Massachusetts Minutewomen (3-5). Stony Brook jumped out quick with two goals early in the first period to set the tone for their 12-6 win. Melissa Cook led the Seawolves in scoring with three goals.

“I think everyone was on top of their game today,” said Cook, who tried not to let the poor playing conditions affect her approach. “It seems like it’s always raining out there, we basically try to keep the ball in our sticks a little longer to avoid a lot of passing.”

Stony Brook’s victory was a team effort, with 7 of its 12 goals coming from unique scorers. Jackie Hughes, Samantha Djaha and Courtney Bertolone each had two goals, and freshmen Kerry Kresse earned her first career goal at 8:33 in the first half.

UMass kept the game close to tie it up 3-3 going into the half with a free position goal from Merritt Cosgrove, her second of the game. The Minutewomen took their first and only lead of the afternoon with a quick goal from Ali Houlis with 29:13 left in the second half to take a 4-3 advantage.

The lead was short-lived for the Minutewomen as Stony Brook struck right back with Cook’s second of three goals a mere 21 second later.

After the two squads traded goals to make it a 5-5 contest, Stony Brook took control with five unanswered goals over a 15-minute span. The outburst was started by an unassisted goal from Djaha at 21:08. The 10-5 lead with 5:21 left proved to be enough to hold off any Massachusetts comeback.

“This was a huge win for us,” said Stony Brook Head Coach Allison Comito, whose team had lost four of their first five games this season. “UMass is a great team and this is a huge confidence booster after we’ve been struggling.” Each team had 20 shots on goal throughout the game, but Massachusetts was unable to take advantage of the 22 turnovers Stony Brook surrendered during the contest.

Notes: Stony Brook goalkeeper Mickey Cahill made 10 saves in the game to pick up the win…Victoria Cable aided in the victory with one goal and one assist…Stony Brook takes on Long Island rival Hofstra at home on Wednesday.