Hovering dangerously close to the cutoff for ACHA Nationals at No. 15 with two games remaining in the regular season, the Seawolves played some of their best hockey of the season this weekend against the UNLV Rebels.
The Rebels, who came into the weekend four spots higher than the Seawolves at No. 11, could not overcome the home team on back-to-back nights at The Rinx. Stony Brook earned a 6-3 win on Friday, March 1 before accomplishing a 6-4 comeback victory on Saturday, March 2.
The four graduating seniors, defensemen Joe Heffernan and Frank Coscia and forwards Matthew Crockett and Brad Riccardi, led the way in their final home series with the club, each recording at least one point for a combined 10 on the weekend.
Game one got off to a good start for Stony Brook, with sophomore defenseman Brendan Pepe breaking the ice 50 seconds in. 10 minutes later, junior defenseman Dan Moore found the back of the net with his second goal of the year to make it 2-0 Seawolves, but the Rebels were able to cut into that lead with a goal of their own late in the period.
The middle frame began well once again for Stony Brook with sophomore forward Joey Slevin striking on a 2-on-1 for a 3-1 lead, but UNLV’s resilience caused the game to go into the third period tied at 3-3. In the third, however, momentum shifted back in favor of the Seawolves starting with a power play goal scored by freshman forward Dustin Rinaldo three minutes in. Crockett and freshman forward Filip Pomianek tallied goals of their own later in the period to create a three-goal cushion, and the Seawolves finished out strong for a 6-3 final.
Prior to puck drop on Senior Night at The Rinx, Saturday also featured the annual Stony Brook Hockey Alumni Game with former players from all five decades of club history on the ice. Many alumni from the ESCHL championship teams of 2013-2016 were in attendance, including 2018 graduates Frank Sherding, Brendan Calello and Ori Benyamini. Also back on the ice was 2014-15 captain Sam Brewster, who recently beat cancer for the second time. The game was a great success, with the White Team skating to a 12-6 win over the Red Team.
Stony Brook wasted little time in scoring the first goal in game two. Sophomore forward Keith O’Brien kicked off the regular season finale 15 seconds into the first period with his ninth of the season, but the Rebels were determined not to repeat their mistakes from game one. UNLV scored twice before the end of the first to take a one-goal lead and regained that lead after Rinaldo and O’Brien scored tying goals in the second to make it 2-2 and 3-3, respectively.
Down 4-3 with a Nationals bid on the line, the Seawolves were in need of a big third period. Just as in the first, it did not take long for Stony Brook to find the catalyst it needed. Riccardi found the back of the net just 40 seconds into the final period of regulation to tie the score on senior night. Then under four minutes later, O’Brien completed the first hat trick of his Seawolves career to give the team a 5-4 lead. Junior forward Devon Palmieri added an insurance tally with 5:32 remaining in regulation when he tipped Coscia’s shot from the blue line in for a power play goal, and that proved to be the final goal of Stony Brook’s regular season. The team’s 6-4 win marked its 20th of the campaign and gave the Seawolves an 11-3 record in the second half.
Stony Brook will now gear up for the ESCHL playoff tournament in West Chester, PA, which will take place in two weeks. The Seawolves will enter the tournament in the No. 2 seed and play their semifinal game on Saturday, March 16 at 8 p.m. If the team wins it will advance to the League Championship Game on Sunday, March 17 at 1:30 p.m.
