The Seawolves split their weekend series with the Drexel University Dragons, earning a commanding 9-2 victory in game one on Friday, November 19 before falling 6-4 in game two on the road on Saturday, November 20.
Senior defenseman Brendan Pepe kickstarted the Seawolves’ offense in the opening game of the series, scoring just three minutes in to give Stony Brook a lead that it would never surrender. Junior forward Kyle DePalma picked up his third goal of the season later in the first period followed shortly after by a goal from senior forward Conor Dempsey to make it 3-0 going into the second period. Junior forward Scot Lawson increased the Seawolves’ lead to four early in the middle frame, but soon after the Dragons responded with a goal of their own. The score remained 4-1 for a majority of the period, but with under two minutes to go it was senior forward Filip Pomianek who found the back of the net to make it 5-1 Seawolves.
Despite their sizable lead, the Seawolves kept their foot on the gas pedal going into the final period of play. Lawson and Pepe’s second goals of the night paired with freshman forward Thomas Liebold’s tally extended the lead to 8-1 with five minutes remaining in regulation. The Dragons added one more late goal, but senior forward Charles Peck lit the lamp moments later to become the first Seawolf with 10 goals this season and give Stony Brook a 9-2 win.
Despite their strong outing at home in the first half of the weekend set, the Seawolves were unable to secure a win on Saturday at the Class of 1923 Arena in Philadelphia. Drexel found the back of the net on a power play just over five minutes into the game and, though Stony Brook managed to tie the score on two separate occasions, Drexel never looked back. Peck’s second of the weekend made it a 1-1 game heading into the second intermission and Pepe’s 10th of the year later evened the score at 2-2 midway through the second.
The Dragons deposited a pair of goals later in the period to take a 4-2 lead which was eventually cut in half by junior forward Gideon Cooper, but the Seawolves couldn’t complete the comeback. Drexel scored its fifth of the contest six minutes into the third period. Stony Brook answered with the team’s third power play goal of the night off the stick of junior defenseman Robert Distefano, but the Dragons scored to secure a 6-4 win with under two minutes to go.
After his performance this weekend, Pepe is now tied for the ACHA DI lead in goals and points among defensemen. The captain also sits tied for the lead in power play goals among all players and has a commanding five-goal lead on his competition among D-men. Not far behind is Distefano whose four power play tallies from the blue line places him in a tie for second in the nation. Finally, senior forward Joseph Slevin made program history this weekend with his 77th career assist, moving him into fourth all time since Stony Brook moved to Division I. He now sits six assists behind alumnus Chris Ryan for third in program history.
The Seawolves are off this weekend in observance of Thanksgiving and will travel to the University of Delaware to play their final games of 2021 on Friday, December 3 and Saturday, December 4 against the Blue Hens at Fred Rust Arena. Friday’s game will start at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday’s game will begin at 4:45 p.m.
