The Seawolves had their work cut out for them going into this weekend’s matchup with the No. 1 Adrian Bulldogs at Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian, Michigan. The defending national champions came into the weekend on a 20-game winning streak and hadn’t lost a home game since February 2019. Despite the No. 14 Seawolves being considered heavy underdogs by many going into the matchup, they put the entire ACHA on notice with a sweep of the Bulldogs, solidifying Stony Brook’s place among the top programs in the nation.
Game one on Friday, October 15th was a battle from start to finish. Adrian opened the scoring about halfway through the first period and was poised to take a one-goal lead into the first intermission, but senior forward Charles Peck found the back of the net with less than two minutes remaining to send the teams to the locker room tied 1-1. Just over four minutes into the second period, Peck found his linemate senior forward Joseph Slevin who gave Stony Brook a 2-1 lead. Adrian scored later in the period to tie the game at 2-2, but Seawolves captain senior defenseman Brendan Pepe answered right back to reclaim a 3-2 advantage through two periods of play. Despite the Bulldogs’ best efforts, the Seawolves successfully weathered the storm in the third period thanks in large part to the stellar play of sophomore goalie Matvei Kazakov who turned aside 42 of 44 shots faced en route to a 3-2 victory.
The capacity crowd at Arrington Ice Arena left Friday night’s game dazed and confused after witnessing Adrian’s first home loss in over two years. Those who returned for the rematch on Saturday, October 16th were expecting to see the Bulldogs, who hadn’t lost back-to-back home games since the 2011-2012 season, secure a victory for a series split. Adrian scored on a power play to take a 1-0 lead in game two, but the Bulldogs weren’t the only ones who would have success with the man advantage. Junior forward Jesse Edwards picked up his first goal as a Seawolf minutes later to tie the game 1-1. Junior forward Gideon Cooper followed suit 24 seconds into the second period to earn his first ACHA goal on a power play.
The Bulldogs battled back to tie the score at two goals apiece just like the day before, but from there the Seawolves ran away with the game. Junior forward Scot Lawson’s first of the year regained a 3-2 Stony Brook lead and junior defenseman Dominick Molfetto cashed in to make it 4-2 a few minutes into the final period. Kazakov allowed just two goals on 42 shots for the second straight day and despite Adrian’s late attempt to tie the game, Edwards found the empty net from his own defensive zone and finished off an incredible team effort.
Special teams played an important role in the Seawolves’ victories. Stony Brook’s penalty killers allowed just one Adrian goal on 11 attempts while the Seawolves’ power play operated at an impressive 40 percent against what is typically an efficient Bulldogs penalty kill. The Seawolves’ success on special teams helped them earn the program’s first ever sweep against a No. 1-ranked team.
Stony Brook’s 5-2 victory on Saturday improved their overall record to 5-1. The Seawolves now shift their attention to their upcoming matchup with the University of Rhode Island Rams who will come to Long Island for a pair of games this weekend. Friday, October 22nd at 9:00 p.m. will be our annual Hockey Fights Cancer fundraiser and Saturday, October 23rd at 5:00 p.m. will be Greek Night! All home games are played at The Rinx, 660 Terry Road, Hauppauge, NY 11788.
