The Seawolves wrapped up their regular-season road schedule with a two-game split against the University of Rhode Island Rams on Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23.
Freshman forward Nate Chuckran and junior forward Nick Belger opened the scoring on Friday night with a pair of quick goals for a 2-0 Stony Brook lead. Under the pressure of a relentless Stony Brook offense, Rhode Island head coach Joe Augustine used his time out in an attempt to slow down the game. This strategy payed dividends for the Rams, who scored shortly after the stoppage and went into the first intermission down 3-1.
The second period was a role reversal from the first, with the Rams controlling a majority of the play. The home team found the back of the net three times in the middle frame and entered the third period with a 4-3 lead. Trailing for the first time since January, the Seawolves would need a quick response in the third period to get back on track.
Senior forward Brad Riccardi gave his team just that at the 5:27 mark of the third, tying the game at 4-4. Just over five minutes later, senior defenseman Frank Coscia lit the lamp with his 10th goal of the second half to regain a 5-4 Stony Brook lead, but Rhode Island would not throw in the towel. The Rams went on to tie the game and then take a lead with 1:30 remaining in regulation, securing the Seawolves first loss in seven games.
Saturday afternoon’s matchup featured quality chances for both teams in the first period, though neither was able to beat their opponent’s goalie. This changed early in the second period, however, when Coscia scored to take a 1-0 lead. Riccardi followed it up with his third of the weekend, prompting Augustine to call another timeout with his team trailing 2-0.
This time, the Seawolves held off the Rams and retained the two-goal advantage going into the second intermission. Rhode Island managed to score once in the third period but it was not enough and Stony Brook earned the 2-1 win.
Saturday’s game was the team’s last against ESCHL opponents in the regular season. After going 4-4-2 against the league in the first half, Stony Brook beat ESCHL teams nine out of 10 times in 2019.
