After a weekend sweep against Syracuse the Seawolves will host a division rival, the University of Rhode Island Rams in their home opener Friday, October 2nd at 9:00 pm and Saturday October 3rd at 8:30 pm. Friday night is alumni night and Saturday night is hockey fights cancer. On Saturday night, the Seawolves are happy to announce Stony Brook’s Dean of Students, Timothy R. Ecklund, PhD will be dropping the ceremonial first puck.
In addition to Alumni night, cancer awareness, and battling the Rams, last year’s captain Sam Brewster is in a battle of his own as he was recently diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Sam was born in Columbia, MD but spent most of his childhood in Plano, TX, that is when he wasn’t playing junior hockey in the Northeast.
Brewster was a pure athlete, who exceled in every sport he played including football, baseball, and track but hockey was Sam’s passion and his biggest challenge. He didn’t lace up his first pair of skates until he was 15 years old while most hockey players who become gifted in the sport begin playing at a very young age. He knew in order to make a difference on the ice he would have to work hard and challenge himself every day and that’s just what he did. Sam came to Stony Brook as a true freshman in the fall of 2011. As soon as Sam stepped on the ice for the Seawolves he distinguished himself as an elite player. His leadership qualities could be seen both on and off the ice. Voted on by his peers Sam was named assistant captain his junior year and captain of the team his senior year. Sam achieved unprecedented goals for himself while at Stony Brook; he was chosen for the ACHA All-Star Team both his junior and senior years, also during his senior year he was selected to represent team USA in the World University Games in Spain as well as he won the ESCHL tournament MVP. Sam achieved many individual goals, but he always put the team first. During his tenure, he helped lead the Seawolves to three ESCHL Championships, the 2014 semi-final game at the ACHA National Championship Tournament, and the 2015 ACHA National Championship game.
Sam is a great hockey player in every sense, but he also excelled in his academics. He held an overall 3.4 GPA while at one of the top universities in the country, Stony Brook, he also scored in the top 3rd percentile on the LSAT’s and received a full ride to the University of Wisconsin Law School. Since news of the diagnoses, Sam had to withdrawal from law school to focus on his treatment. Sam is optimistic and in high spirits while doing whatever it takes to make a full recovery. To show Sam his Seawolves family is here to support him in this fight, the team is wearing orange ribbons on the back of their helmets and have dedicated the season on his behalf. This weekends games will also be a fundraiser for Leukemia where all fan donations will be donate to the Leukemia Society in Sam’s honor. We ask all our fans and friends to pray for Sam and his family during this challenging time.
