SBU Sports: SBU men’s lacrosse team handed first loss on Feb. 27 in Battle of Long Island

The Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team entered the USILA rankings this week for the first time in four years. And things are looking bright under second-year head coach Anthony Gilardi.

However, the 17th-ranked Seawolves suffered their first blemish of the season on Feb. 27, falling to host Hofstra, 20-17.

With the teams deadlocked in the third quarter, Dylan Pallonetti had a pair of goals and Wayne White also scored to open a 14-11 lead. However, Hofstra answered with five straight goals to take a two-goal lead early in the fourth quarter.

Pallonetti’s fifth goal of the game stopped Hofstra’s run and pulled the Seawolves within 16-15 with 11:35 remaining. But Hofstra did not relinquish the lead the rest of the way.

Pallonetti finished with a team-high five goals in the defeat. Tom Haun and Mike McCannell each added a hat trick. Haun moved to 99 career goals.

Stony Book won only 14 of 41 faceoffs.

“Obviously it’s not the result we wanted in a rivalry game,” coach Anthony Gilardi said. “It came down to making stops and winning faceoffs. We struggled in those two areas. Credit to Hofstra. They did a great job of earning high-quality shots and finishing the ball. We will watch the film, learn from it and get back to work on Monday as we open America East play.”

Photo from Stony Brook Athletics