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Sunday, April 26, 2009

STONY BROOK TRIPS UP #20 ALBANY, 13-12, SEAWOLVES TIE UMBC FOR SHARE OF REGULAR SEASON AMERICA EAST TITLE


Stony Brook, N.Y. - After combining to score 12 goals through the first three quarters, Stony Brook and Albany totaled 13 in an explosive fourth quarter, and when the smoke had cleared it was Stony Brook that held off 20th-ranked Albany, 13-12, in America East men's lacrosse action in LaValle Stadium. The victory gave the Seawolves a share of the regular season America East championship with UMBC with a 4-1 conference record, its best since the 2006 season. UMBC won the regular season meeting with SBU and will be the No. 1 seed in next week's America East Championship. Stony Brook will be the No. 2 seed and will host No. 3 Albany on Wednesday, April 29 at LaValle Stadium.
"What a heck of a ball game that was," said Stony Brook head coach Rick Sowell. "After losing that tough one on Tuesday to Hofstra we wanted to put ourselves in a position to finish the job this time. I am proud of the way the team came back in just a couple of days from that loss and play a tough Albany team the way we did. A great win for the Stony Brook program."
Stony Brook (8-5, 4-1 America East) entered the fourth quarter with a 7-5 lead after breaking a 5-5 tie with goals from junior Tom Compitello (Hauppauge, N.Y.) and freshman Robbie Campbell (Delta, B.C.) that came just 15 seconds apart. The fourth quarter fireworks started when Albany (7-6, 3-2 America East) scored two quick goals in the first four minutes of the quarter to tie things back up a 7-7.
A four-goal run was Stony Brook's answer to the Great Danes two scores. Compitello scored back-to-back goals 39 seconds apart to put the Seawolves back on top, 9-7. Junior Chris Scott (North Babylon, N.Y.) then assisted on goals from sophomore Timmy Trenkle (Commack, N.Y.) and sophomore Jordan McBride (New Westminster, B.C.) that gave SBU an 11-7 bulge with 3:37 left in the game.

Albany was not done on this night, storming back with three goals in just over a minute's time. Seven seconds after McBride's tally, Matthew Cushing scored for Albany to cut the deficit down to three. One minute and three seconds later a goal from Corey Small, his first since the first goal of the game, brought Albany back to within one at 12-11.
As quickly as Albany had scored, Stony Brook answered with what proved to be the game-clinching goals. Sophomore Kevin Crowley (New Westminster, B.C.), who had scored the first goal of the second half, put two in the net just nine seconds apart, the first coming off an assist from McBride, that pushed the Stony Brook lead back to three at 13-10.
Just when it seemed that Stony Brook had the game easily in hand, Albany came back out of a time-out and scored with 1:41 remaining to make it a two-goal game. With time running down the Great Danes had another chance. Junior goalie Rob Camposa (Syosset, N.Y.) stopped one shot, but Dave Brock picked up the rebound and scored with 12 seconds left. Albany won the ensuing face-off, but turned the ball over as time was running out as Stony Brook hung on for the win.
Albany started the game with a 2-0 lead, but with 4:51 left in the quarter freshman Kyle Belton (Langley, B.C.) scored Stony Brook's first goal of the night to put the Seawolves on the board. Campbell followed with his first score of the night to tie things up, but Joe Resetarits scored with one second left in the quarter, and then again at the 11:35 mark of the second to put the Great Danes back on top by two.
Stony Brook blanked Albany the rest of the half, with Camposa stopping four shots in the quarter. With the Seawolves' defense putting the clamps on Albany, the SBU offense had time to come back again, with Trenkle and Campbell scoring unassisted goals that knotted the score at 4-4 at halftime.
Crowley gave Stony Brook its first lead of the night with his goal at 11:01 in the third, with Campbell and Compitello later adding their third quarter scores that set up the wild fourth.
Campbell, Crowley and Compitello all finished with three goals to lead Stony Brook, with Campbell setting a career-high with his goal total and Compitello matching his previous career-best. Camposa, who started his first game of the season due to an injury to junior Charlie Paar (Huntington, N.Y.), finished with 14 saves. The win for Stony Brook broke a five-game losing streak to Albany and was the first for the Seawolves over a ranked team since they defeated Delaware last season. Resetarits led Albany with three goals.
Stony Brook and Albany, just as they did last season, will square off again in the first round of the America East Championships on Wednesday, April 29 at 7:00 p.m. in LaValle Stadium. Tickets for the semifinal matchup are can be purchased through the Stony Brook Athletics website at www.goseawolves.com or by calling 631-632-WOLF.