Though they fared better than most have at the LaHaye Ice Center this season, the Seawolves came up short this weekend in Lynchburg, VA, dropping a pair of games to the No. 3 Liberty Flames.
The home team struck twice in the first period of play on Friday, November 5 to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission of game one. Senior forward Michael Galinski’s third goal of the season cut the lead in half during the second period, but a third-period insurance goal for the Flames proved too much for the Seawolves to overcome. Despite sophomore goalie Matvei Kazakov’s stellar 37-save performance, Liberty secured a 3-1 win in the first half of the series.
Stony Brook came out strong in game two on Saturday, November 6, flipping the script on Liberty. This time it would be the Seawolves who took a 2-0 lead in the opening period, starting with a power play goal scored by senior forward Charles Peck. Stony Brook’s power play marker ended Liberty’s streak of 37 consecutive penalty kills at home to start the season. Senior forward Conor Dempsey scored his first of the year later in the first period to make it 2-0 Seawolves after 20 minutes.
The Flames answered back in the second period to make it a 2-1 game, but junior defenseman Robert Distefano picked up his fifth goal of the season shorthanded with just seconds remaining in the middle frame to extend the Stony Brook lead to 3-1. While the Seawolves had been unable to overcome the Flames’ lead the night before, Liberty managed to comeback and tie the game 3-3 in the final minute of regulation forcing overtime. Both teams failed to capitalize on their scoring chances during the 3-on-3 overtime thanks in part to the fantastic play of both Kazakov and Liberty sophomore goalie Hunter Virostek, but ultimately it was a single Flames goal in the shootout that completed the 4-3 comeback victory for the home team.
“Although the outcome wasn’t what we wanted, I’m proud of our players for their resilience and effort this weekend,” Stony Brook Head Coach Chris Garofalo said.
The Seawolves, now 9-2-1 overall this season, will shift their attention to this weekend’s series against the Syracuse Orange. Stony Brook handed Syracuse a pair of 8-1 losses to open the season last month and will look to continue that dominance as the season series shifts to The Rinx. Game one will be our annual Student Appreciation – Rock The Red Night on Saturday, November 13 at 8:30 p.m. and game two on Sunday, November 14 at 3:30 p.m. will be Military Appreciation Day! All home games are played at The Rinx, 660 Terry Road, Hauppauge, NY.
