HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — The Stony Brook women’s soccer team returned to game action for the first time in 464 days on Feb. 21. Unfortunately for the Seawolves, they fell to No. 23 Hofstra, 4-3, in the Battle of Long Island.
Alyssa Francese and Chelsie DePonte each scored to give Stony Brook leads, but the Pride answered with three goals in a 9-minute, 25-second stretch of the second half to take a two-goal lead.
Francese had earned a spot on the initial MAC Hermann Trophy watch list last month. And she began to back up the hype on Sunday.
Francese, a graduate student from Yorktown Heights, scored in the 15th minute and the Seawolves grabbed an early 1-0 lead.
Francese’s 31st career goal moved her into a tie with Noreen Heiligenstadt (1985-88) for fourth on the program’s all-time goals list.
After a disputed equalizer before in the final minute before halftime, DePonte scored in the 50th minute to give Stony Brook a 2-1 lead. She had a goal and an assist.
On the opening goal, DePonte made a 20-yard run and dished down the middle to Francese, who finished with her left foot underneath the goalkeeper.
Mari Brenden scored on a penalty kick in the 81st minute to pull Stony Brook within 4-3. It marked Brenden’s first game action and goal since her freshman season in 2018.
The Seawolves were playing their first match since an NCAA Tournament appearance at Penn State on Nov. 15, 2019.
Stony Brook began the post-Sofia Manner era at goalkeeper as Emerson Richmond Burke made her collegiate debut.
Right back Rachael Peters made her first collegiate start, while Rutgers transfer Alicia D’Aoust made her Stony Brook debut and Kerry Pearson and Emma Beattie made their collegiate debuts.
The game marked second-year Stony Brook head coach Tobias Bischof‘s first return to Hofstra since switching sides in the Long Island rivalry. Bischof previously served as a Hofstra assistant for eight seasons.
The Seawolves return to action March 3 at UMass.
“We had a good performance against a very well-coached top-25 team,” Bischof said. “Butm in the end, we fell short. We are going to analyze our play and improve.”
Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics
