SBU Sports: Men’s lacrosse powers past Fairfield on Senior Day April 22
The Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team sent its 10 seniors off with a thrilling 17-14 win over Fairfield on April 22. Senior attackman Dylan Pallonetti led the charge for the Seawolves as he tallied six points and scored a game-high five goals en route to the crucial CAA victory.
The Seawolves used a big first quarter to take an early 8-4 lead. Stony Brook had six different goal scorers in the opening frame, which included Pallonetti who recorded a hat trick over the first 10 minutes of play. The Seawolves scored six of the first seven goals in the game and at one point scored four consecutive goals in the first and took a 6-1 lead.
Stony Brook carried over its momentum into the second quarter as it outscored Fairfield, 3-2, in the frame and took an 11-6 advantage into the halftime break. Graduate midfielder Matt Anderson, graduate attackman Jonathan Huber, and senior attackman Will Button all rattled the cage in the second quarter as the trio helped cushion the Seawolves’ first half lead.
The teams played an even third quarter as Stony Brook took a 15-10 lead into the final frame. Senior defenseman Michael Sabella made a highlight reel play with 3:04 to play in the third quarter.
Sabella knocked the stick out of Fairfield midfielder Rob Moore’s hands to force a turnover, he then scooped up the ground ball, took it down to the offensive end of the field and ripped a shot into the back of the net. For Sabella, it was his first career goal, and it gave the Seawolves a 14-8 lead.
Fairfield started the fourth quarter hot by scoring three goals over the first four minutes of play to cut Stony Brook’s lead to 15-13. Following a Seawolves’ timeout and on the ensuing face-off, graduate defensive midfielder David Miele-Estrella picked up the loose ball at the X, charged down field, and found Pallonetti who ripped his fifth goal of the game and upped the Seawolves lead to 16-13.
Stony Brook added an insurance goal with 2:04 to play in the contest when senior attackman Blake Behlen found the back of the net to give the Seawolves a 17-14 advantage, a score they would hold on to win by.
Sophomore goalie Jamison MacLachlan came up huge for the Seawolves in the fourth quarter as he made six of his 15 saves in the final frame. Five of those six saves in the fourth quarter kept Stony Brook up 16-14 from the 10:01 mark until there was 2:04 to play.
Before the game, Stony Brook honored seniors Jimmy Burns, David Miele-Estrella, Liam Ronan, Renz Conlon, Tynan Hillery, Nick Squicciarini, Jonathan Huber, Dylan McDermott, Matt Anderson, and Caleb Pearson for their contributions to the program.
STATS AND NOTES
- Pallonetti finished the game with six points, which included five goals and one assist. He extended his goal scoring streak to 41 games, which continues to be the longest such streak in the nation. He now has 45 goals on the season, the eighth-most in a single-season in program history. For his career, he now has 115 goals, which ties him with Bo Tripodi and Tom Haun for the sixth-most in program history.
- Huber and Anderson both finished the game with hat tricks. For Huber, it was his fifth hat trick of the season and the 21st of his career. For Anderson, it was also his fifth hat trick of 2023 and the 12th of his career.
- Junior Noah Armitage registered four points (one goal, three assists). The three assists tied a career-high (also dished out three assists in a game at Monmouth on Mar. 25).
- Behlen totaled three points (one goal, two assists). It was the 11th time this season that he recorded a multi-point game and fifth time he finished a game with multiple assists.
- Sabella scored his first career goal, picked up a career-high tying five ground balls, and caused two turnovers. He held Fairfield’s Bryce Ford to just one goal on 1-of-5 shooting.
- Miele-Estrella scored his first goal of the season and dished out his first assist of the season. The goal was the fifth of his career.
- MacLachlan made 15 saves and picked up a pair of ground balls. It marked the seventh time this season that he made 10 or more saves in a game and the fourth time that he has made 15 or more stops in a contest.
“There is so much emotion on senior day and I am so happy for that group and so proud to get them a win in their last game at LaValle Stadium. The guys worked hard all week – I thought we had a really good week of practice and we saw the results in today’s win over Fairfield,” said head coach Anthony Gilardi.
NEXT UP
The team concludes the 2023 regular season next Saturday, April 29, when it makes the short trip over to Hempstead to take on Long Island rival Hofstra at 7 p.m. It marks the first time that the teams will meet since February 27, 2021, when the Pride earned a 20-17 win at Shuart Stadium. The Seawolves last defeated the Pride on February 25, 2020, when they picked up a 14-11 win at LaValle Stadium.
