For the first time in nearly two decades, Stony Brook fell short of its league championship game this weekend following a 3-2 overtime loss to Syracuse on Saturday, March 16.
The Seawolves got off to a sluggish start in the first period, failing to convert on a pair of power plays and giving up a shorthanded goal late in the frame to the Orange. After being outplayed for the better part of the opening 20 minutes, Stony Brook needed a big second period to get back into the game.
The team came out with a much better effort following the first intermission and managed to turn a one-goal deficit into a 2-1 advantage. Senior defenseman Frank Coscia tied the game just under seven minutes into the period with his first career ESCHL playoff goal and the blue line’s offensive production didn’t end there. Late in the period, sophomore defenseman Brendan Pepe cashed in on a centering feed from freshman forward Dustin Rinaldo to put the Seawolves up by one.
In the third period, Syracuse senior goalie Jake Kahler made multiple spectacular saves to keep his team in the game. Still down 2-1 entering the final minute of regulation time, the Orange opted for six attackers in an attempt to tie the score. With 13.9 seconds to go, a scramble in front of junior goalie Richard Shipman led to a quality scoring chance for Syracuse. Shipman covered the puck to stop play but the referee incorrectly called junior forward Devon Palmieri for an illegal cover and awarded the Orange a penalty shot. Junior forward Peter-Owen Hayward was selected to take the shot and he did not let it go to waste, tying the game 2-2 and forcing overtime.
Stony Brook won the opening draw of the extra frame but from there it was all Syracuse. The Orange hemmed the Seawolves in their own defensive zone and made quick work of ending the game. One minute in, senior forward William Franzese deflected a shot past Shipman for a 3-2 win. Syracuse advanced to the ESCHL Championship Game on Sunday, where the team defeated Liberty in overtime for the club’s first ESCHL title.
The early exit is unfamiliar territory for the Seawolves, who have not failed to make an ESCHL Championship game since joining the league in 2011-12. Before that, Stony Brook had been either champion or runner up in the SECHL and ECHL for nine consecutive years, with the last third place finish coming in 2001-02.
Despite the playoff loss, the Seawolves’ season is not over yet. The team will fly to Frisco, Texas this weekend for the 2019 ACHA National Tournament. Stony Brook will play its first game on Saturday, March 23 against the No. 5 Iowa State Cyclones at 10 a.m.
