SBU Sports: Men’s lacrosse takes down Monmouth Hawks to move to 2-0 in CAA play

After falling behind 5-0 in the first quarter, the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team went on to outscore Monmouth, 15-7, en route to its third win in a row to improve to 2-0 in CAA play in West Long Branch, N.J. on March 25. The Seawolves were paced by senior attackman Dylan Pallonetti who recorded seven points (six goals, one assist) and his 100th career goal in the victory.

Pallonetti ended Monmouth’s early 5-0 run when he scored back-to-back goals for the Seawolves over the final three minutes of the first quarter to make it 5-2 in favor of the Hawks after the first 15 minutes of play. From there, the Seawolves and Hawks played a back-and-forth second quarter, which saw Stony Brook outscore Monmouth, 6-3, in the frame and the teams were knotted up at 8-8 at the break.

Leading the attack in the first half was Pallonetti and senior attackman Blake Behlen. Pallonetti finished the first half with a hat trick and an assist, while Behlen got on the board twice with a pair of goals.

Stony Brook’s offense continued to click in the second half with Pallonetti at the helm of the attack. The senior scored another three goals over the final 30 minutes as he finished the game with his second six-goal performance of the season.

With the game tied up at 11-11 with 10:31 to play in the fourth quarter, Pallonetti rattled the cage for the fourth time in the game and it was the 100th goal of his career. The crucial goal put Stony Brook up 12-11 and it never looked back as it went on to outscore Monmouth, 4-1, down the stretch as it held on to win, 15-12.

Defensively, the Seawolves stifled the Hawks as they held them to just four goals on 16 shots in the second half. Sophomore goalie Jamison MacLachlan and senior defenseman Michael Sabella anchored a strong effort on the defensive end for the Seawolves.

MacLachlan made nine saves in the cage, six of which came in the second half. Sabella made big plays for the Seawolves time and time again as he was blanketed all over Monmouth’s top scorer Cade Stratton who scored just two goals in the game and none of which came while Sabella was guarding him man-to-man.

The three-game winning streak is the longest of the season for the Seawolves as they improved to 2-0 in conference play. It is the first time since 2018 that Stony Brook has started conference play 2-0.

“I am proud of the team for sticking to the plan and not panicking after going down 5-0 to start the game. The bench was electric and helped us bring the juice as we chipped away at the lead,” said head coach Anthony Gilardi. 

“I thought Dylan was fantastic again and I am so pumped for him on getting his 100th career goal in a big moment when we needed it. Every game in this league is a battle and we look forward to getting back to work on Monday as we prep for our first CAA home game against Towson,” he added.

The team returns to LaValle Stadium on April 1 to take on Towson in its first-ever home CAA game.