The Seawolves came away with a split against an ESCHL opponent for the second straight weekend, beating the University of Rhode Island Rams 6-1 on Friday, Oct. 26 before suffering a 5-4 shootout loss on Saturday, Oct. 27 at The Rinx in Hauppauge.
Stony Brook monopolized the scoring through the first 40 minutes of Friday’s game, going up 6-0 with a pair of three-goal periods. Junior forward Nick Belger led the game with two goals which extended his team-leading total to 10. He now leads the Seawolves in points with 19 and is in a three-way tie for the team lead in assists with sophomore forward Joey Slevin and freshman forward Dustin Rinaldo.
Sophomore goalie Robby Lockwood played well in his first start of the season, conceding just one goal on 34 Rhode Island shots. The Rams’ lone goal of the game came during a third-period power play after the Seawolves were caught with too many men on the ice. They came close to cashing in on another man advantage in the second period when Rams junior forward Jonathan Alsfeld found a rebound in the crease, but Lockwood was able to recover and stop the shot with his skate blade.
“I just saw him cutting across and I put my paddle out,” Lockwood said. “It hit that and came back into me. I was trying to get a hold of it and the puck bounced out. I looked over, he took a shot, and I just kind of kicked my skate up and got lucky there.”
Only three combined penalties were called despite the physical and at times chippy nature of the game. The six-goal deficit to start the third period proved insurmountable for the Rams and the Seawolves went on to win game one 6-1.
Saturday night’s game followed a similar script through the first 20 minutes, with the Seawolves jumping out to another 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission. The second period was where the story diverged however.
The Rams came out in the middle frame with a new sense of determination, eventually striking twice in just over a minute to cut the Seawolves’ lead to 3-2. Junior forward Daniel Caruso completed the comeback six minutes into the third period to tie the game and senior defenseman Filip Akermark scored three minutes later to make it 4-3 URI.
The Seawolves were in desperate need of an equalizer as time continued to bleed off the clock. With five minutes remaining in regulation, junior forward Devon Palmieri carried the puck into the offensive zone and found Slevin in the slot with a pass. Slevin deposited the puck through the five-hole of sophomore goalie Daniel DeSilva, tying the game at 4-4.
Stony Brook continued to push the pace after Slevin’s tally and earned a power play with one minute separating the game from overtime. Though they had some quality scoring chances, the Seawolves were unable to strike with the extra man. The game eventually went to a shootout, where the Rams outscored the Seawolves 1-0 to even the weekend series with a 5-4 win.
“I think in overtime we controlled the play,” senior forward Brad Riccardi said. “We possessed for the most part, we had a bunch of shots on net and I think our overtime play was good… I don’t think our overtime had anything to do with our loss. I think it was just that second and third that really cost us.”
Stony Brook’s next challenge will likely be its greatest so far, as the team heads down to Lynchburg, VA for an ESCHL Championship Game rematch with the Liberty Flames. Returning home from consecutive road losses, the Flames will be hungry for a win against the rival Seawolves.
“We’ve got to be more consistent, we have to prepare better and we have to be able to adjust,” head coach Chris Garofalo said about the keys to beating Liberty. “We have to play our game. I know it sounds cliche but we have to play our game.”
The Seawolves and Flames will face off Friday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at LaHaye Ice Center.
