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Sam Turcotte took a perfect-game bid into the eighth inning in Game 2 on Feb. 26

John LaRocca set the tone and Sam Turcotte put an exclamation point on the first February on-campus baseball games in program history.

Turcotte, 6-foot-3 right-hander from Toronto, took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning of the nightcap as Stony Brook swept a season-opening doubleheader against Sacred Heart, 1-0 and 7-1, at Joe Nathan Field on Friday.

Stony Brook (2-0) limited an opponent to one run over the opening two games of a season for the first time since performing the feat against Florida Atlantic in 2011.

It marked the first-ever February games on campus for Stony Brook and the first home opener since 1996. It ended up being a sunny, mid-40s day amid the snow piles just beyond the playing field.

“It’s unbelievable it’s the last weekend in Feburary and we played in the weather we did today,” coach Matt Senksaid. “It couldn’t have been better.”

LaRocca, a graduate student like Turcotte, had a memorable debut.

LaRocca helped lead New York Tech to a Division II College World Series appearance in 2019. Then, the Division II school disbanded its athletic program and he transferred to Stony Brook.

In his first Division I baseball game in three years, since his first college stop at Monmouth, LaRocca delivered a critical hit in his Seawolves debut.

Benefiting from a shift, the lefty-hitting LaRocca sent a roller down the third-base line for a double that plated Chris Hamilton from first base in the sixth inning for the lone run in Game 1.

Evan Giordano and LaRocca then drove in two runs apiece to support Turcotte in Game 2.

“I’m just happy to be back out here, especially after what happened at my old school,” LaRocca said.

LaRocca could not recall ever previously batting cleanup, which he did in the opener before moving to his customary No. 2 slot for Game 2.

“It’s those extra 15 pounds I put on,” LaRocca joked.

Nick DeGennaro, slated to be the No. 4 starter once America East play begins, earned the win in relief in Game 1. DeGennaro, a junior right-hander from Toms River, N.J., tossed the final 2 2/3 innings in relief of Jared Milch.

Milch had retired the first eight Sacred Heart batters he faced.

DeGennaro stranded the potential tying run in scoring position in the seventh and final inning with a game-ending strikeout of Steven Schoe. He also had stranded a pair of runners in scoring position the previous inning.

In Game 2, Giordano contributed a second-inning solo homer to open the scoring.

Freshman Evan Fox made his collegiate debut as the starter in left field in the nightcap and made a diving catch of a liner in the third to record the inning’s opening out —  a feat since Fox had not played the outfield since he was 12 years old. On his first college swing, a half-inning later, Fox led off by doubling down the left-field line and ultimately scored on a Brett Paulsen’s double in what became a three-run third.

Turcotte departed after 85 pitches, after surrendering a leadoff single in the eighth to Robert Farruggio. Turcotte had retired the game’s first 21 batters.

The last no-hitter in program history remains the third of Frankie Vanderka’s career, in 2014 against UAlbany.

“That was the longest I’ve ever had anything like that — any kind of perfect game, no-hitter, even shutout, honestly,” Turcotte said. “You’ve got to credit everybody. Anytime you put up seven runs on 11 hits, you’re going to win a lot of games.”

Stony Brook and Sacred Heart aim to complete the three-game weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m. Right-hander Brian Herrmann is slated to start for the Seawolves. He will make his first college appearance since April 13, 2019, after which he underwent Tommy John surgery.

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Alex Christie started for a second straight game on Sunday. Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook men’s basketball team is headed to the America East Tournament as the seventh seed.

The Seawolves dropped their regular-season finale, 67-59, at UAlbany on Feb. 21 to complete the regular season 9-13 overall and 7-9 in league play.

Coupled with an NJIT loss, the Seawolves earned the No. 7 seed and will face No. 6 UMass Lowell at New Hampshire on Saturday at 1 p.m.

The winner faces No. 3 seed and pod host UNH the following day.

“We’re excited to play against a really good Lowell team,” said coach Geno Ford, whose squad swept UMass Lowell during the regular season. “It’ll be a hard game. They played us well both times.”

Stony Brook split a pair of games this weekend with the Great Danes.

On Sunday, the Seawolves continued to play shorthanded as Mouhamadou Gueye remained unavailable.

Tykei Greene nonetheless stepped up with a double-double for the second straight day and his fifth of the season.

Juan Felix Rodriguez also scored in double-figures.

Lenny Kadisha made his first collegiate start. Alex Christie also started for the second straight day.

“I really want to give a lot of credit to Dan Leonard, our trainer, who has had to deal with testing, protocols, travel, and really has carried the brunt of the load with all of that, which has allowed the coaches and players to stay safe. He’s been the real MVP of our season,” Ford said. “I don’t think a lot of people had confidence within college basketball that we’d get this far. We have.”

 

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Matt DeMeo works against Bryant midfielder Jon Miller on Saturday at LaValle Stadium. Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team cracked the Inside Lacrosse media poll’s top-20 rankings last week for the first time in four years.

And things continue to look up for coach Anthony Gilardi‘s Seawolves in Year 2 at the helm.

No. 20 Stony Brook clamped down on defense after halftime and produced a 14-8 win against Bryant on Feb. 20 at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.

Stony Brook (2-0) has won consecutive games to open a season for the first time since 2017 — the same season the Seawolves last were ranked.

The Seawolves limited Bryant to one goal after intermission.

Wayne White gave Stony Brook its first lead, 8-7, when he opened the third-quarter scoring with 6 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the period.

Mike McCannell followed with a goal less than two minutes later for a two-goal cushion and Stony Brook led the rest of the way.

Bryant was held scoreless for 14:16 spanning the middle two quarters. And once that drought was broken to pull the Bulldogs within 9-8, USILA Team of the Week selection Dylan Pallonetti got on the scoreboard for the first time on the afternoon with a tough-angle unassisted goal. That was the first of six straight goals for Stony Brook, which held the Bulldogs scoreless over the final 19:11.

Goalie Anthony Palma made a career-high 16 saves to improve to 2-0 in two collegiate starts.

“We started off rocky, but our defense knows how to play the game,” Palma said. “We just really sunk in and played our game. We didn’t get overexcited. We calmed down and we did what we had to do.”

Said Gilardi about Palma: “He has that in him to get hot. He’s been really consistent this entire year. We knew he would settle in.”

Pallonetti had produced six goals in last Saturday’s season-opening win against Sacred Heart — a program record for a collegiate debut.

Bryant (1-1) had opened Saturday’s game with four straight goals during the opening five minutes. The Seawolves then answered with four straight goals of their own — including the opening pair by Cory VanGinhoven — to even the score at 4 after one quarter.

VanGinhoven produced his second straight hat trick to open the season. McCannell also had a had trick, his first since April 20, 2018, against UMass Lowell.

Matt DeMeo and Matt Anderson contributed  two goals apiece for the Seawolves.

White had a pair of assists in addition to his tiebreaking goal.

Stony Brook avenged a loss at Bryant last year, after which the season was shut down due to the pandemic.

“I wish there was some big Knute Rockne speech at halftime,” Gilardi said. “It was just, ‘Hey, we knew this was what the game was going to be like. Let’s continue to do what we do offensively, defensively and in the clearing game.’ And Palma really stepped up in the goal and made some unbelievable saves.”

Stony Brook returned to action on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Hofstra.

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Chelsie DePonte (12) had a goal and an assist in the season opener at Hofstra.

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

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Cory VanGinhoven (40) joins teammates Anthony Palma and Dylan Pallonetti as America East weekly honorees.

A resounding start to the season has led to a clean sweep of the America East’s first weekly men’s lacrosse awards for 2021.

Cory VanGinhoven claimed Offensive Player of the Week, Anthony Palma Defensive Player of the Week and Dylan Pallonetti Rookie of the Week on Monday.

The weekly honor encompasses Stony Brook’s season-opening 20-8 win against Sacred Heart on Feb. 13 as well as this past Saturday’s 14-8 victory against Bryant.

VanGinhoven, a 6-foot, 175-pound attackman from Fort Mill, N.C., and a 2020 USILA All-American, had hat tricks in both victories. He added a team-high four assists in the season opener.

Palma, a 6-0, 175-pound goalie from East Islip, earned wins in his first two collegiate starts after succeeding Mike Bollinger, who graduated last year. Palma had a 7.82 GAA and .634 save percentage in the two victories. In the win against Bryant, he recorded a career-high 16 saves and contributed to holding the Bulldogs scoreless over the final 19 minutes, 11 seconds.

A local product from Ward Melville High School in Stony Brook, the 5-10, 185-pound Pallonetti set the program record for a collegiate debut with six goals against Sacred Heart. The redshirt freshman attackman, who transferred from Maryland, had seven goals and two assists spanning the two games.

Stony Brook (2-0) returns to action Feb. 27 at Hofstra.

Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

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Earlette Scott prepares to drive during Sunday's game against Maine. Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook women’s basketball team honored McKenzie Bushee, Jonae Cox, Victoria Johnson, India Pagan and Hailey Zeise in a pregame Senior Day ceremony on Feb. 14. The Seawolves then surged to as much as a 16-point lead before halftime against Maine with first place at stake.

Ultimately, Maine rallied for a 54-49 victory at Island Federal Arena to split the weekend showdown.

The teams could very well meet again as the top two seeds in the America East Tournament, with a ticket to the NCAA Tournament on the line.

Employing a full-court press, Maine took its first lead, 43-41, with an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter that included three steals in a 38-second span. The lead eventually swelled to six points late.

Zeise’s three-pointer with 61 seconds remaining pulled Stony Brook within 52-49, but a late possession with a bid to tie went awry.

Pagan and Asiah Dingle scored in double-figures. Dingle also contributed five assists.

Maine improved to 12-2 in America East, while Stony Brook sits comfortably ahead of the rest of the field in second place at 9-3.

“I’m definitely disappointed with the outcome today,” coach Caroline McCombs said. “I thought we were playing some really good basketball early and then allowed Maine to get back in the game by capitalizing on our mistakes. We have to learn from it and move forward, which is what we will focus on.”

The team returns to action when they host UAlbany on Feb. 22 and 23, both at 2 p.m.

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Mouhamadou Gueye (#2) produced a career-high scoring output last Sunday against UMBC.

The Stony Brook men’s basketball team is now in the midst of crunch time as it aims to maximize its seeding in the America East Tournament.

Unfortunately for the Seawolves, they dropped the first of four straight games against the conference’s top placeholders, falling to UMBC, 71-65, on Feb. 7 at Island Federal Arena.

Stony Brook (8-9, 6-5 AE) slipped two games in the loss column behind UMBC (12-4, 8-3) and Vermont (7-3, 7-3) for the conference’s leading positions. The top two finishers earn byes into the America East semifinals, while the third and fourth seeds will host opening-round pods in the 10-team tourney.

UMBC shot 46.7 percent from three-point range before intermission (7-for-15) and built a 16-point advantage early in the second half.

“I think the experience factor was enormous,” Stony Brook coach Geno Ford said. “They came out at the start of the game, understood the intensity level when you’re playing for first place, and we played like an inexperienced bunch of new guys, who would like to win, but aren’t necessarily playing hard enough early.”

Mouhamadou Gueye paced Stony Brook with 17 points and eight blocks — both career highs, and the latter figure one shy of matching Jameel Warney’s program record, set in 2015 against Princeton. The scoring total supplanted a 16-point performance against Binghamton on Jan. 22, 2020 for his career high. Gueye now has 120 career blocks, matching Greg Angrum (1980-84) for fifth on the program’s all-time list.

Juan Felix Rodriguez (17 points) and Tykei Greene (11) also scored in double-figures.

A pair of free throws from Gueye and a driving layup from Rodriguez pulled the Seawolves within 49-45 and prompted a timeout from UMBC with 12 minutes remaining in the game. 

When play resumed, Jordan McKenzie produced a steal and Greene converted a driving layup at the other end to continue Stony Brook’s 16-2 run.

LJ Owens stopped UMBC’s hemorrhaging with a three-point play and the Retrievers managed to hold off Stony Brook the rest of the way.

“I’ll give our guys a lot of credit,” Ford said. “In the first half, I thought we played on our heels. And at halftime we really challenged them hard about their effort and energy level. And in the second half I thought we were fantastic. We played well enough to win for 20 minutes, but they played well enough to win for 40.”

The Seawolves played without leading perimeter threat Frankie Policelli.

Policelli, who is averaging 11.3 points per game and a team-leading .348 shooting percentage from three-point range, had aggravated a nagging hip issue late in in last Sunday’s 63-49 win against Hartford.

Still, Ford noted the Seawolves shot 13-for-34 inside the paint on Sunday.

“That is, to me, what sputtered the offense,” Ford said. “They pack the paint so hard that they force you to shoot threes. We have two or three guys out there that they’re just blatantly not guarding. They’re just standing in the lane, off of them.” 

Stony Brook and UMBC met again on Feb. 8 but the Seawolves fell again 60-48. The team heads to Vermont next weekend for a critical two-game showdown against the second-place Catamounts.

Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

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Tyler Stephenson-Moore sends through a dunk the first half of Sunday’s win against Hartford.

Frankie Policelli and the Stony Brook men’s basketball team awakened from a shooting funk at an opportune time.

Policelli drained a pair of three-pointers less than two minutes apart early in the second half to open a double-digit advantage and the Seawolves went on to a 63-49 win against Hartford on Jan. 31 at Island Federal Arena.

The teams split the weekend series.

Stony Brook (8-8, 6-4 AE) overcame early shooting woes and foul issues to take a four-point halftime lead. And when Policelli drained a three-pointer with 15:24 remaining in the second half, the Seawolves opened a 41-29 advantage. 

Another three-pointer from Policelli two minutes later upped the Seawolves’ lead to 14 points.

After Hartford clawed within 46-40 midway through the second half, Juan Felix Rodriguez answered with a three-pointer and Omar Habwe converted a jumper to reopen a double-digit advantage.

“I thought we defended at a high level, and we got separation in the second half because we made threes,” coach Geno Ford said. “We finally made some shots. It makes the offense look a whole lot better.”

The Seawolves had shot 17.1 percent (12-for-70) from three-point range over their previous three games, including 8-for-31 in a 59-57 loss to Hartford on Jan. 30.

Policelli, who reaggravated a recurring hip issue during the second half, finished with a team-high 16 points. He shot 4-for-5 from behind the arc on Sunday.

Leighton Elliott-Sewell added a career-high 13 points. He had accounted for only four points in Stony Brook’s six games since Dec. 28 entering Sunday.

“I was just getting the ball in spots where I could score,” Elliott-Sewell said.

Tavin Pierre Philippe logged a season-high 20 minutes.

“I thought our bench was great in the first half when we needed it,” Ford said. “I thought our starters looked a little lethargic. We were able to get some real lift off that bench.”

The Seawolves had dropped four straight meetings with Hartford, including last year’s America East semifinal.

“It really was a big motivation for the team,” said Mouhamadou Gueye, who finished with nine points and five rebounds. Stony Brook hosts UMBC for a pair of games next weekend.

“Here comes the best team in the league in my opinion,” Ford said, citing UMBC’s speed, athleticism and size.

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India Pagan shot 66.7 percent from the field and led the Seawolves in scoring both weekend games.

WEST HARTFORD, CT. — The Stony Brook women’s basketball team produced a sweeping success on Saturday, Jan. 30 and Sunday, Jan. 31. The Seawolves swept back-to-back games against host Hartford with a 62-49 win on Sunday.

India Pagan continued a big scoring weekend. She backed up an 18-point performance on Saturday with 19 points on Sunday. She combined to shoot 16-for-24 on the weekend. 

The Seawolves improved to 10-4 overall and 8-2 in America East and ran their winning streak to a season-high five straight games.

Stony Brook stands in second place, a game behind Maine.

Nairimar Vargas-Reyes grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to open a six-point lead in the second quarter. Asiah Dingle then produced a steal, which ultimately resulted in a layup from Pagan and 21-13 advantage. The Seawolves opened their first double-digit lead on a pair of free throws from Hailey Zeise with 3:42 remaining until halftime. Dingle contributed 12 points, four rebounds, six assists, five steals and a block.

“Back-to-back games on the road are definitely challenging,” coach Caroline McCombs said. “I was proud of our ability to lock in defensively when we were struggling to make jump shots. India really stepped up for us this weekend, and it was good to see her in that flow.”

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Coach Joe Spallina

The Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team began their quest for a national championship in earnest on Thursday.

The Seawolves held their first official practice of the spring semester inside the Stony Brook Indoor Training Complex.

Lofty expectations already have been heaped on the program.

Stony Brook enters the 2021 season ranked fifth in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Preseason Top 20 poll. And standout midfielder Ally Kennedy — the subject of soon-to-be aired features on Fox and ABC — landed on the cover of the January issue of US Lacrosse Magazine as the publication’s national Preseason Player of the Year.

“This is probably the realest year that it’s been to accomplish the dream of winning a national championship and getting to the Final Four — being the first Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team to do that,” Kennedy said. “I think it’s right at our fingertips this season.”
 
Kennedy highlights the deepest midfield of coach Joe Spallina‘s 10-season tenure at Stony Brook. That midfield group also includes USC graduate transfer and former Pac-12 first-team all-conference selection Kaeli Huff, 2019 first-team All-America East pick Siobhan Rafferty (who missed last season rehabbing an ACL tear after tallying 50 goals the previous year), Kira Accettella, Sarah Pulis, Charlotte Verhulst and freshman phenom Ellie Masera, who happens to be Huff’s cousin.

“What’s really cool about it is that everyone is constantly working and giving 110 percent,” Huff said. “It’s not like there’s a drop-off. Every single person is pushing each other and wants to get better.”

During Spallina’s now 10 seasons at the helm, Stony Brook has produced a 143-27 overall record, seven straight America East titles, and currently rides a 44-game winning streak against conference opponents.

Kennedy enters the season ranked second in program history in draw controls (242), fourth in goals (193), fifth in points (248), fifth in ground balls (133) and 10th in assists (55).

Fellow grad student Taryn Ohlmiller, an attacker, was ranked the No. 47 college lacrosse player, man or woman, by Inside Lacrosse in December. She ranks second in program history in career assists (138), third in points (305) and fifth in goals (167).

“Everybody really believes in this. We can make it to the national championship,” Huff said. “It’s really cool to have this common goal. Everybody has bought into that.”

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