SBU Sports: Men’s lacrosse comes from behind to top Sacred Heart 11-4

The Stony Brook University men’s lacrosse team defeated Sacred Heart, 17-14, in the come-from-behind fashion in the 2024 season opener on Feb. 4 at Campus Field. A second-half surge saw Stony Brook outscore Sacred Heart 11-4 over the final 30 minutes to overcome a halftime deficit and emerge victorious.

The Seawolves tallied three of the contest’s first four goals, with three different scorers finding twine in the opening quarter of action. 

Stony Brook carried a one-goal advantage, 3-2, into the second period, but would concede eight goals in the quarter, facing a 10-6 deficit as the two sides headed to the half. The Pioneers scored four of the first five goals of the second quarter, and ended the period by tallying four of the last five scores of the first half.

The Seawolves surged out of the gates in the second half, netting three goals to open the third quarter and trim their deficit to one goal. After Sacred Heart padded the lead to two goals, Nick DuPuis and Noah Armitage found twine to level the game heading into the final 15 minutes of action.

Stony Brook ripped off four consecutive goals to open the fourth quarter and were responsible for six of the period’s first seven tallies, opening up a 17-12 lead with four minutes to play. The Seawolves conceded a pair of goals over the final three-and-a-half minutes, but closed out the come-from-behind victory after a strong second half performance defensively.

Three Seawolves tallied hat tricks in the win. Jack Dougherty, Nick Dupuis and Dylan Pallonetti all finished with a team-high three goals.

Dupuis finished with a career-high eight points, scoring three goals and dishing out a game-high five assists.

Jamison MacLachlan earned the victory in net, making 16 saves. MacLachlan made 10 of his 16 saves in the second half.

“Really proud of the response out of half time. Disappointed with the second quarter and the first half issues at the face-off and X, but we had a big response when we needed it in the second half,” said head coach Anthony Gilardi postgame. 

“Now we need to utilize the jump from week one to week two as we get ready for a huge home game against Rutgers,” he added.

Up next, the team hosts Rutgers on Feb. 10 at noon at LaValle Stadium. The contest will be streamed live on FloSports.