Late Darmanin goal lifts women's soccer to AE Final

Orono, Maine -  Freshman Sarah Darmanin (Miami, Fla.) scored her first collegiate goal with 7:07 left in the second half to propel the Stony Brook women's soccer team to the America East Final with a 2-1 win at Maine on Sunday.

Coach's Reaction

"Our players have a ton of belief right now and are really coming together at the right time. We faced adversity giving up an early goal, but we didn't panic and that's really a testament to the leadership of our upperclassmen. Sometimes you have to win ugly matches and we're very happy with our gritty, gutsy performance today."

--Head coach Sue Ryan

Goal Recaps

• Maine got on the board just 45 seconds into the match as Nikki Misener drove down the left wing and crossed the ball to Jordan Pellerin in front for the one-time finish.
• Freshman Kristen Baker (Easley, S.C.) evened the score at 1-1 at 22:06 when her free kick from 45 yards out bounced over the keeper's head and into the net.
• Darmanin then produced the deciding goal at 82:53. Jumping onto the ball on the left wing, Darmanin calmly finished with a skillful chip over the keeper for her first goal as a Seawolf.

The Numbers Game

• Maine held a 16-9 edge in shots.
• Seawolves' keeper Ashley Castanio (Oceanside, N.Y.) made eight saves.
• Stony Brook will be making its third trip to the America East Finals in program history (2002, 2008).
• Sunday's victory gives Stony Brook 11 wins on the season, which is the most in a season since 2008.
• The Seawolves have now knocked off the two and three seeds in the America East playoffs.
• Stony Brook is just the second six seed in America East history to advance to the title game.

Playoff Picture

• In Sunday's other Semifinal, No. 1 Hartford eased past No. 4 Vermont, 2-0, as Amelia Pereira and Elise Galipo provided the offense. The championship game between SBU and Hartford will be a rematch of the teams' regular season finale, which was won by the Hawks, 2-1, in overtime on Oct. 21 at LaValle Stadium.

Next Up

The Seawolves will travel to West Hartford, Conn. on Sunday, Nov. 4 for the America East Final against Hartford. Game time is TBD.