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Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

No. 15 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse wrapped up the month of March with an 18-8 victory against Monmouth at Kessler Stadium on March 29. The Seawolves picked up their fourth straight win, moving to 9-2 (4-0) on the season while Monmouth dropped to 5-6 (1-3 CAA).

The team was led by graduate student Kailyn Hart who scored four goals on the afternoon. Graduate student Charlotte Verhulst and junior Courtney Maclay each netted three goals, while senior Clare Levy added two. Six more players finished off one goal on the afternoon. Stony Brook tallied nine assists on Friday, led by graduate student Erin MacQuarrie and senior Jaden Hampel with two each.

Graduate student McKenzie Mitchell picked up three ground balls and Levy added two, while Mitchell and Emily Manning caused two turnovers each. Manning made six saves in the second half, allowing just two goals, while senior Aaliyah Jones got the start and made four stops on a .400 save percentage. In the circle, Levy collected a career-high nine draw controls while Verhulst contributed four of her own.

 Monmouth was led by Maddie Flynn who put up a hat trick, while Shea Berigan and Ella Spears each scored twice. Goalkeeper Katie Sullivan made eight saves on the afternoon.

 “Excited to be 4-0 in conference, and for our players to get a few days off to refuel and get right as we head into another very difficult part of our schedule,” said head coach Joe Spallina. “I really love this group and I know our best lacrosse is ahead of us.”

The team heads home to continue conference play, facing Delaware on April 6 at LaValle Stadium. Opening draw is set for noon on FloLive and Stony Brook will honor its women’s lacrosse seniors prior to the game. Stony Brook is 5-0 all-time against the Blue Hens, winning 18-6 in both the regular season and the conference tournament last year.

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Stony Brook University: Fall on the Academic Mall. Photo by John Griffin/SBU

Stony Brook University has been named a “Tree Campus Higher Education Institution” for the eleventh consecutive year, recognizing the university’s efforts conducted during the 2023 calendar year, according to a press release on March 20. 

Tree Campus Higher Education, the national program launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation, honors colleges and universities, and their leaders, for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation.

To obtain this distinction, Stony Brook University met the five core standards for effective campus forest management, including establishing a tree advisory committee, creating a campus tree care plan, dedicating annual expenditures for that campus tree program, observing Arbor Day, and sponsoring student-service learning projects. Last year, members of the Campus Operations & Maintenance team partnered with the Stony Brook Child Care Services Center to plant a seven-foot Ginkgo Biloba ‘The President’ tree.

Alaina Claeson, Horticulturist/Landscape Coordinator at Stony Brook University commented, “This recognition is owed to the support and hard work of our Campus Operations & Maintenance (COM) team and our student organizations across campus. Faculty, staff and students have all played an instrumental role in helping beautify many corners of our campuses this year. From the student-led vegetable garden behind the Student Activities Center to new plantings at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics, our communal efforts towards sustainability and maintaining green spaces have provided our Seawolf community with spaces to relax, unwind and connect with nature.”

Since 2009, Stony Brook has planted hundreds of trees on campus — most of which were cultivated in the University’s own greenhouses — through a robust planting program designed to manage the University’s tree care and beautify the campus. In addition to planting trees each year, the horticultural team grows an average of 10,000-15,000 annual plants that help adorn the campus from commencement through the fall season. The COM staff also helps plant and maintain all landscapes across Stony Brook’s campuses throughout the year. 

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Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

No. 14 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse scored the game’s first 16 goals en route to a dominating 21-3 victory over Campbell at LaValle Stadium on March 24.

 The Seawolves moved to 8-2 (3-0 CAA) in their first 10 games while Campbell dropped to 3-7 (0-3 CAA).

 Stony Brook was led Kailyn Hart with five goals, and the graduate student added two assists for seven points. Classmate Alex Finn set a career high with eight assists, while graduate student Jolie Creo added three. Classmates Morgan Mitchell and Charlotte Verhulst each had hat tricks while senior Jaden Hampel and sophomore Alexandra Fusco each scored twice.

 The defense was led by graduate student Kira Accettella and junior Avery Hines with two caused turnovers, while five others caused one. Stony Brook got two ground balls each from Hines, Verhulst and senior Clare Levy. Four different goalkeepers played on the afternoon, with senior Aaliyah Jones making four saves without a goal against in her first career start. Sophomore Francesca Viteritti also made four stops on the afternoon while freshman Hannah Hudson made two saves.

In the draw circle, Stony Brook was led by Levy with five draw controls, while Charlotte Verhulst added four and Hampel and freshman Isabella Caporuscio each added two.

Lexi Goff scored twice for the Camels while Mattie Riter added the other tally.

The Seawolves scored all 10 goals in the first quarter, with three coming from Mitchell and two each from Fusco and Verhulst. Finn dished out five assists in the first quarter alone. Hart scored four of Stony Brook’s five goals in the second quarter, extending the lead to 15-0 at halftime. Aaliyah Jones kept the game scoreless with two saves in each of the first and second quarters. Hampel and Millen each scored in the third, as Stony Brook carried a 17-2 lead into the fourth. Viteritti made four saves in the third period on a .667 save percentage.

Four different players scored in the fourth, with three goals coming from freshmen, as Stony Brook extended the lead as big as 21-2.

Up next, the team wraps up the month with a matchup at Monmouth on March 29, with first draw against the Hawks scheduled for 1 p.m. on FloLive. 

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Catcher Chris Leone congratulates pitcher JT Raab after Sunday's game. Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

Junior Matt Miceli racked up four hits to help power the Stony Brook Seawolves baseball team over the William & Mary Tribe 12-3 on March 24, earning their first CAA victory of the season. 

Junior JT Raab (1-0) started on the mound and picked up the win for Stony Brook (10-12, 1-2 CAA). The right-hander went seven innings, giving up three runs, all of them earned, on seven hits, allowing one walk and striking out seven. Junior Colton Book also made an impact on the mound for the Seawolves, throwing two shutout innings while allowing no hits, with two walks and two strikeouts.

In addition to his four hits, Miceli had four RBI to lead the Seawolves. Senior Cam Santerre compiled a noteworthy performance at the plate as well, going 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and two RBI. Senior Matt Brown-Eiring also contributed for Stony Brook, putting together two hits in six trips to the plate while adding a double and an RBI.

The Seawolves got on the board immediately, starting their scoring in the top of the first inning. Stony Brook scored two runs in the frame, highlighted by a two-RBI double from Santerre. 

Stony Brook kept the pressure on by tallying two runs in the next inning. Senior Matt Brown-Eiring tallied an RBI double, while graduate Brett Paulsen had an RBI-knock.

After stranding two runners in the first inning, W&M scored two runs in the second inning off Raab to push the score to 4-2.

The squad scored two runs in the third and and one in the fourth, taking a 7-2 advantage. Freshman Eric Paulsen and Miceli knocked in the runs for the Seawolves. The Tribe answered back in the fifth inning by scoring a run on a sac-fly. 

After Miceli reached on a fielder’s-choice that brought home Nicholas Solorzano in the sixth, Raab sat down the Tribe in order for the sixth inning. 

The Seawovles tallied another run in the seventh and two in the ninth to secure the 12-3 victory. Brown-Eiring would score on an error in the seventh, while Carson and Miceli had RBI-knocks in the ninth inning. 

Book finished the final 2.0 innings of the game by striking out two batters and not allowing a hit. 

Up next, the team hosts College of St. Charleston on March 29 at Joe Nathan Field. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.

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Stony Brook University Hospital launches meal-ordering app. Photo courtesy Stony Brook Medicine/Rob Tannenbaum

By Daniel Dunaief

From soup to nuts – along with pictures and descriptions – patients at Stony Brook University Hospital can use a new mobile app to order meals during their stays that are consistent with medical advice and that is sensitive to their diets.

With this app, patients can choose the times they want meals, within the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. schedule, and the specific foods that suit their interests and restrictions.

The response among patients at the hospital, which serves more than 1,500 patient meals a day, has been “very positive,” said Nicole Rossol, Chief Patient Experience Officer at Stony Brook University Hospital. “It’s giving patients more day-to-day control in a hospital setting.”

That empowers patients who can otherwise be confined to their rooms or to the hospital as medical staff monitors their health and brings them for a variety of tests.

The cbord patient app, which allows patients to order food for the same or the next day, provides choices that are consistent with the approach the hospital takes as a part of a patient’s care. Additionally, the app can adjust for a range of allergies and patient dietary needs.

Once patients create a dietary profile, the app can filter food options that include halal, kosher, gluten-restricted, vegetarian, cardiac, carbohydrate-controlled and more.

The app “is not replacing anything,” said Kathleen Logsdon Carrozza, Assistant Director of Food and Retail Services and Registered Dietitian at the Faculty Student Association of Stony Brook University Hospital. “It gives patients another option.” Patients who are tech savvy can use their own mobile devices to order food or, on some floors, they can use a shared mobile device.

Those who prefer can still order food through a call center or by speaking with a dining service worker.

At this point, the hospital has about 45 patients who are using the app, said Alexandra Bush, Nutrition Software Systems Administrator at the Faculty Student Association of Stony Brook University.

App origin

About a year ago, members of SBU attended a conference where they learned about this way of ordering food as an option.

“We wanted to do something that was user friendly,” said Logsdon. “The administration was on board.”

Each food and drink option includes a photograph, which gives patients a chance to consider their choices the way they might at a restaurant.

Last summer, two Stony Brook University students took pictures of each item.

At this point, the app is only available in English, although the hospital has interpreters who can help with patient needs and answer questions.

The app is evolving on almost a daily basis. Bush, who receives daily post it notes with suggestions, recently received a request from a pediatric nurse to add pasta with butter, which is now on the menu.

While the hospital doesn’t have the equivalent of a Yelp review for each dish, volunteers solicit feedback from patients from survey data.

In putting together the menu and developing the app, Stony Brook received considerable guidance from a patient and family advisory council, who teamed up with Logsdon and Bush. The app can be accessed on any app store compatible with Apple and Andriod products.

The council “helped with the education that would be going out to patients,” said Rossol. “It’s really important that we have patients that partner with us to make some of these changes and decisions. They gave us great input and feedback.”

The ability to order meals at a particular time allows patients to dine with their visitors.

“This enables us to offer things to patients in a way we haven’t been able to do in the past,” said Rossol.

By ordering food that better suit patient tastes and interests, the hospital can also reduce the amount of food it discards at waste.

When patients order food at a time when they are out of the room for medical testing, the hospital staff can update the dining crew and revise the schedule.

The person delivering the meal can speak with the nursing staff, who can advise them to hold the food or to repeat the order at a later time, depending on the length of any schedule change.

“We’re looking at ways to enhance the patient experience using technology,” said Rossol. “We are really trying to make the experience the best it can be.”

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Stony Brook University: Entrance sign

Stony Brook University recently announced the launch of the Pre-College Summer Program, a new residential summer program for rising high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

The Pre-College Summer Program is a week-long program that offers high school students the opportunity to engage in the campus experience, take courses, participate in workshops, and access resources across campus, including bridging connections with Stony Brook faculty and industry experts. Throughout the program, students will connect with like-minded program participants, while learning to transition to college life.

“There is a rich history at Stony Brook of outstanding rigorous summer programming aimed at high school students,” said Peter Diplock, vice provost for Continuing, Professional, and Executive Education. “We are thrilled to be able to extend those opportunities and make them available to in-state and out-of-state high school students looking for a residential academic program experience.”

Participating students can take courses, led by Stony Brook faculty, in topics ranging from biomedical informatics to multimedia journalism to sustainability all while living on the Stony Brook campus. Students also have the opportunity to participate in recreational activities held on campus. In addition, the program is supplemented by participation in college readiness workshops.

“I am beyond excited to kick off the Pre-College Summer Program at Stony Brook University this year. Participants can expect to make memories that will last a lifetime. They’ll get first-hand experience in subjects that they’re passionate about with the support from SBU Faculty,” said Breanne Delligatti, director of the Pre-Summer College Program. “Beyond the classroom, they’ll make friendships and connections with peers who share their interests and ambitions. Plus, they’ll get a taste of college life on Stony Brook’s beautiful campus.”

Courses will be held across three sessions throughout the month of July, beginning on July 7.

Participants who register before April 1 will receive a cost savings of $100 and interested applicants can apply through May 15. The application process involves submitting the applicant’s high school transcript, a reference, a short essay, and a $45 application fee. A limited number of scholarships are also available for need-based applicants to offset the cost of the program.

Learn more about the Pre-College Summer Program at stonybrook.edu/precollege-summer.

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Stony Brook, NY; Stony Brook University: Department of Mathematics Assistant Professor Theo Drivas was named a 2024 Sloan Research Fellow.

Stony Brook University Assistant Professor Theodore Drivas, PhD, in the Department of Mathematics has been selected as a 2024 Sloan Research Fellow and awarded $75,000 toward his research investigating the mathematical characteristics of fluid motion.

Sloan Research Fellows are marked as the most auspicious scholars in their fields and are projected to become the next generation of scientific leaders across the United States and Canada. The funding granted to each fellow may be spent over a two-year term on any research-related expenses of choice. Professor Drivas is one of 126 early-career scholars honored in 2024 and the 71st Stony Brook faculty member to receive the distinction since 1961.

“Congratulations to Dr. Drivas for this extraordinary accomplishment that recognizes exemplary early career performance,” said SBU President Maurie McInnis. “As a Sloan Research Fellow, Dr. Drivas is among the top researchers in his field who is also an inspiring educator and mentor to our students. It is a proud moment for Stony Brook, and I look forward to watching the continued evolution of his research and scholarly work in the years to come.”

Drivas, who joined Stony Brook University in 2021, has also received a Charles Simonyi Endowment from the Institute for Advanced Study as well as several awards from the National Science Foundation, including a Faculty Early Career Development grant. He currently teaches an upper-division undergraduate course and a graduate course and has contributed to dozens of studies on fluid dynamics, turbulence theory, differential equations and more.

“This is a tremendous honor for Dr. Drivas, placing him among a select set of researchers recognized for their potential to significantly advance their fields,” said Provost Carl Lejuez. “These prestigious awards are cause for celebration, both for the acclaim they bring to the individual researchers, and for the further elevation of Stony Brook’s reputation as an institution that promotes excellence and innovation in all that we do. I am thrilled for Dr. Drivas to be recognized with a Sloan Fellowship.”

“This has been an exciting year for Theo Drivas, having also recently received an NSF CAREER award in support of his research,” said Scott Sutherland, professor and chair, Department of Mathematics. “In addition to his research program, which is of the highest caliber, Theo has been an exemplary member of the Stony Brook Department of Mathematics. He joins a cohort of distinguished faculty in our Department who have been honored with this prestigious award, and I am exceedingly pleased that the Sloan Foundation has recognized his outstanding achievements. We are very fortunate to have Theo as a member of our Mathematics faculty.”

Before joining Stony Brook University, Drivas was Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Princeton University, where he completed his postdoctoral fellowship. He holds a PhD in Applied Mathematics & Statistics from Johns Hopkins University and a BS in Mathematics & Physics with honors from the University of Chicago. Professor Drivas resides in Stony Brook.

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Jacob L Houghton, PhD, in his Stony Brook Cancer Center laboratory. Photo by John Griffin

Stony Brook University signs licensing agreement with Perspective Therapeutics

Image-guided radionuclide therapy uses radioactive molecules designed to specifically target and kill cancer cells while sparing non-cancerous tissues. This form of targeted therapy can be effective against cancer, but traditional methods for applying this therapy can also result in significant adverse effects related to off-target radiation toxicity. A team of Stony Brook University researchers developed a new method for image-guided radionuclide therapy that uses a two-step process with specially-modified antibodies to target the cancerous tumors, followed by a radioligand designed to bind specifically to the modified antibody.

Preliminary studies have shown that the approach can drastically reduce adverse effects while remaining extremely effective at targeting and killing the cancer cells. The promise of this technology has led to an exclusive licensing agreement with Perspective Therapeutics, Inc., headquartered in Seattle, WA.

The licensing agreement with Perspective Therapeutics is through the Research Foundation for State University of New York’s (SUNY), a private, non-profit,  education corporation that manages research administration and intellectual property for and on behalf of SUNY.

Nuclear imaging and targeted radionuclide therapy with biological molecules are a rapidly growing approach for the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of cancer and other pathologies such as inflammation and infection. Traditionally, the therapy has primarily been used in specific diseases such as thyroid cancer, bone cancer metastases, and neuroendocrine cancer. However, a major potential drawback of existing technologies is a resulting high radiation dose to healthy tissues from the combination of long-lived radionuclides and long biological half-life of the targeting molecules.

Stony Brook University radiology researchers Jacob L. Houghton, PhD, and Vilma I.J. Jallinoja, PhD, developed a new technology that overcomes these hurdles to more widespread use of radionuclide therapy. The platform involves using a small molecule that is labeled with a therapeutic radionuclide known as a radioligand, along with a modified monoclonal antibody – such as those used in immunotherapies to target cancer cells – in a two-step process. The platform enabled them to use the specificity of monoclonal antibodies to target cancer  and take advantage of a small molecule radioligand in a manner that retains the efficacy of the therapy while substantially improving the safety through a reduction in radiation toxicity.

Houghton, an Assistant Professor in the Department Radiology in the Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM), and researcher in the Stony Brook Cancer Center, conducts research on targeted radionuclide therapy for diagnosing and treating cancer. He will continue to collaborate with scientists at Perspective Therapeutics as they further develop the technology. Jallinoja is no longer at Stony Brook.

“Our technology allows the use of such molecules for imaging and therapy while abrogating the concerns of radiation toxicity by using a pre-targeting technique which enables us to ‘label’ the biological molecule after it has been delivered to the target tissue and cleared from peripheral tissues,” explains Houghton.

Specifically, the pre-targeting radionuclide approach involves these steps: an antibody that has been modified to include an artificial binding group is administered to target to the tumor; then the radioligand carries the radionuclide to the tumor which binds specifically to the artificial binding group on the antibody. The radioligand rapidly accumulates in the tumor via this highly-specific interaction, and the unbound radioligand clears the body quickly. This process allows for optimal delivery of the radioactivity to the tumor, with little interaction with healthy tissue and organs.

This method differs from traditional approaches to targeted radionuclide therapy that directly attaches the radioactive payload to the targeting antibody, which can take days to accumulate in the tumor, leading to increased exposure to healthy tissues.

“By embracing a strategy that leverages the precision of monoclonal antibodies and the versatility of small molecules, Perspective is poised to redefine the landscape of radiation therapy,” says Thijs Spoor, Chief Executive Officer at Perspective Therapeutics. “One of our core missions as a company is to deliver safe and effective radiotherapies to patients.”

The team at Stony Brook University’s Intellectual Property Partners (IPP) worked to create the license with Perspective and develop a partnership to bridge new radiopharmaceutical technologies into eventual diagnostics and treatments.

“We are excited to partner with Perspective Therapeutics to advance this novel CB7-Adma pre-targeting platform toward clinical use. The combination of Perspective’s propriety radionuclide chelators and our pre-targeting platform has the potential to significantly improve clinical outcomes in a variety of cancer indications,” says Sean Boykevisch, PhD, Director of the IPP. “This partnership is a great example of how IPP works with Stony Brook inventors, helping them bridge their innovations with societal benefit in collaboration with industry partners.”

Perspective Therapeutics is a radiopharmaceutical development company that is pioneering the delivery of powerful radiation specifically to cancer cells via specialized targeting peptides. The Company is also developing complementary imaging diagnostics that incorporate the same targeting peptides. This “theranostic” approach  is designed to see the specific tumor and then treat it to potentially improve efficacy and minimize toxicity associated with cancer treatments.

 

Caption: Jacob L Houghton, PhD, in his Stony Brook Cancer Center laboratory.

Credit: John Griffin

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Salvatore Capotosto hugs his wife Federica Bove at Stony Brook Medicine Match Day 2024. Kristy Leibowitz

 

By Daniel Dunaief

A former professional soccer player from Italy, Salvatore Capotosto recently experienced a different kind of pressure, this time in front of his wife and her parents.

Joining the rest of the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University class of 2024, Capotosto awaited the countdown for Match Day to learn where he would serve his residency. 

Capotosto, who already knew he’d matched with one of the hospitals on his list for an orthopedic surgery residency, opened the same kind of envelopes medical students around the country were opening at noon Eastern Standard Time.

After the countdown, Capotosto learned he matched with his first choice, Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City.

“It’s a very great dream for us,” said Capotosto, referring both to the opportunity for him and his wife Federica Bove to live in the city and to the excitement his extended family in the small town of Itri felt. Reading where he was going was “an explosion of emotion.”

Capotosto and Bove shed tears of happiness as they pondered the next step in an American journey that began eight years ago when they started college at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. While Capotosto received medical training at Stony Brook, Bove earned her Master of Business Administration at Pace University.

The first member of his family to become a physician,  Capotosto said he spent considerable time explaining the lengthy residency and matching process to his family.

“It doesn’t matter how many millions of times” he shared the medical steps with them, he said, “they will still ask” about the next steps.

Humble origins

The son of cafe owner Luigi, the future orthopedic surgery resident didn’t always set his sights on either a high-powered athletic career or on becoming an American doctor.

“I used to walk to school and stop at my dad’s cafe and eat a croissant and drink cappuccino for breakfast and I would scream that I didn’t want to go to school and that I wanted to work at the cafe,”  Capotosto said. His father kicked him out of the cafe and told him to “go study.”

The Capotosto son said he learned his work ethic from his extended family, for whom work is a responsibility and a passion. Watching his father put time and effort into his work helped him put in 100 or more hours some weeks to meeting his responsibilities and mastering medical material.

Capotosto hasn’t been able to convince his father visit him in New York since he arrived on campus. This year, however, his parents booked a trip to see their son graduate.

Packages from home supported him through school and helped reduce the distance from his close family, who sent olives and olive oil every few months that were made from the 200 olive trees on his grandfather Pietro Mancini’s property.

A rising soccer star

Capotosto developed a passion for soccer when he first started playing the game at the age of six. He poured considerable energy into developing as a goalie.

He achieved considerable success, playing in front of crowds of over 4,000 people for professional and semi professional teams. In Naples, he trained with his idol, goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis.

Capotosto was in the academy of the professional Napoli team for four years, including training with the first team.

When he played soccer, Capotosto suggested he was a “perfectionist,” honing his technique through hard work and preparation.

During his playing days, Capotosto sustained several injuries that took him off the field, including a scaphoid bone injury that ended his career.

Unsure of the next steps in his life, Capotosto appreciated not only the help and support of the doctors who came to his aid on the field, but also the career inspiration.

“I like to say that orthopedics saved my life,” Capotosto said. “Without the flame to push me to stand up and find a new purpose, I would have taken wrong turns in those dark moments. I’m really grateful to this field.”

Some of Capotosto’s mentors at Stony Brook, in turn, appreciate the considerable positive energy the former goalie brings to medicine and the way he relates to everyone from hospital staff to patients.

“He’s immediately disarming,” said Dr. James Penna, orthopedic surgeon and Chief of Sports Medicine at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. “Even patients who are scared or who are dealing with pain” relax when they are around him.

Dr. Edward Wang, Chief of Shoulder/Elbow Surgery and Clinical Professor in the Department of Orthopedics at the Renaissance School of Medicine, recalled that he offered Capotosto the opportunity to shadow him in the operating room early in his medical school career.

Capotosto picked up the do’s and don’ts of the operating room quickly, while the members of the team recognized his dedication and commitment.

“The staff took a real liking to him immediately,” Dr. Wang said. “Orthopedics is lucky he chose” the field.

In the last few months, Capotosto, who is 29 years old, has reached several milestones. He and Bove received green cards in February, which allow them to live and work permanently in the United States. The couple, who met when Capotosto was 18, also got married on April 22 in Central Park. They are planning a religious ceremony in Italy in May at Bove’s childhood church.

Sports and medicine

The field of orthopedics has attracted athletes from numerous sports, as former competitors have turned their focus and dedication towards preparing for games to the challenging world of helping people recover from injuries.

“A large percentage of applicants have some sorts of sports background,” with numerous doctors sharing stories about injuries such as a torn anterior cruciate ligament or about a relative who received knee replacement surgery, said Dr. Penna, who was not a college athlete.

“We have a lot of former athletes in our program,” added Dr. Wang, who swam competitively in a Division 1 program at the University of Miami. “Athletes like orthopedics because of the physicality and definitive nature and the exposure in the past.”

While Dr. Wang suggested that a range of character-defining elements helped shape Capotosto, he added that the former soccer star’s injuries enhanced his ability to connect.

“Being on the other side [as a patient] gives you empathy,” said Dr. Wang.

While Capotosto enjoyed his time in soccer, he is pleased with the current chapter in his life.

“Playing was a great opportunity, but, I think being an orthopedic surgeon is way better from my standpoint right now,” he said. “I believe in the mission.”

The Stony Brook medical staff, meanwhile, believes in him. 

“There will be a lot of disappointed attendees” when Capotosto leaves the school, said Dr. Penna. “The janitors knew who he was.”

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#12 Jack Dougherty during Saturday's game. Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team fell to No. 16 North Carolina, 12-8, on March 16 at LaValle Stadium. Dylan Pallonetti spearheaded the Seawolf attack with a team-high three goals.

Stony Brook jumped out to an early 2-0 lead after Jack Dougherty and Pallonetti both found the back of the net. The Tar heels answered back, notching back-to-back goals just 13 seconds apart to even the score at the 7:01 mark of the first quarter. The teams then traded a goal each to conclude the opening period tied at 3-3.

After both teams scored a goal in the opening five minutes of the second quarter to even things at 4-4, the Tar Heels broke the tie with a pair of goals to head into the locker room with a 6-4 lead.

North Carolina exploded for four straight goals to open the third quarter. Stony Brook got on the board in the final seconds with a goal from Pallonetti that narrowed the deficit to five goals heading into the final frame.

A late push from the Seawolves brought the game within four, but the Tar Heel defense held strong to secure the victory at LaValle Stadium.

“Proud of the effort; I thought we had a great week of practice and played hard today, which is what we asked them to do,” head coach Anthony Gilardi said. “I think it’s some of the same things for us; we have to play smart lacrosse. Conference play is here.”

Up next, the team stays at home for a CAA matchup, facing off against Monmouth on Saturday, March 23, at noon from LaValle Stadium. The meeting will stream live on FloLive.

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