After opening its season with a 20-7 win at home against Quinnipiac University, the men’s lacrosse team (1-1) was back in action at Stevenson-Pincince Field Saturday against Stony Brook University (1-1). Entering this weekend’s matchup, Bruno hoped to continue the same offensive successes against the Seawolves. But time ran out on the Bears’ fourth-quarter comeback effort, and Stony Brook narrowly edged out Bruno 13-11.
The Bears started the game quickly with a goal from Luke McCaleb ’20, which put Bruno on the board only 48 seconds into the first quarter. But despite the early lead, Brown’s offense stalled until the end of the opening period.
Bruno’s defense forced three turnovers on three consecutive clear attempts by the Seawolves, but Stony Brook eventually broke free, scoring three points before a goal from Mike Panepinto ’19 set the game at 3-2 going into the second period.
Stony Brook continued to gain momentum in the next stanza, adding two more points before a goal from George Grell ’21 made the game 5-3 with 11:37 left in the frame. The Seawolves responded with another point just under a minute later, which Bruno’s Ryan Aughaven ’21 answered with a goal to put the score at 6-4.
Stony Brook closed the scoring for the period, putting up two more points to earn an 8-4 advantage as the game headed into halftime.
“It’s a game of plays and we had them early on (and) put a lot of pressure on them, but we didn’t take advantage of those plays and didn’t finish plays,” said Head Coach Mike Daly of the team’s performance in the first half.
The Bears opened the second half in a man-up situation due to a penalty committed by the Seawolves at the end of the second quarter, and McCaleb put away a behind-the-back goal within the first 30 seconds of play. However, Bruno’s momentum was halted by a costly defensive penalty, and Stony Brook went on a scoring run, putting up three more goals to set the game at 11-5 by the middle of the third.
Bruno answered with a goal from Jack Kniffin ’20 with about four minutes left in the third quarter, but the game seemed to be getting out of reach for the Bears, as two more points from Stony Brook closed out the third quarter with a score of 13-6.
The Bears regained momentum again in the fourth quarter, as the team’s offense finally began to click.
“We just focused on making that next play, not really worrying about what’s happened before,” said attackman Jake Newsome ’19. “Doing the little things well, and kind of moving onto that ‘next-one’ mentality (was important).”
As the period progressed, Bruno continued to fight. First-year Darian Cook ’22 began to take charge of the offense, and Brown’s defense held the Seawolves scoreless throughout the fourth.
Cook found the back of the net three times in a row within a two-minute span, pulling the game within four points to a score of 13-9 with 6:38 remaining. Cook proceeded to score two more goals — one with 2:37 left in the game, and one more roughly 30 seconds later.
But time ran out on the Bears and the game came to a close at a final score of 13-11 in favor of Stony Brook.
Going forward, Bruno looks to stay consistent, focus on details and capitalize on more opportunities throughout the game. “We’ve got to improve. Every phase has to make more plays, and coaches have to do a better job putting the guys in position within those phases to make plays,” Daly said.
“We’ve just got to get back to the little things, making those little plays and getting that momentum in our direction,” Newsome said. “We’re excited to get back to work this week.”
The Bears will be on the road for the first time Saturday, traveling to Baltimore to face the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
