Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook's men's soccer team begins the 2010 season with a match at Long Island rival Hofstra on Wednesday evening. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised locally on Verizon Fios1, with Ralph Bednarczyk (play by play), Sal Rosamilia (color) and Eva Zaccaria (sidelines) providing all the action. Live stats are available on GoSeawolves.org.Hofstra leads the all-time series, 14-8-5, but Stony Brook is 3-4-1 against the Pride since joining Division I in 1999. The Seawolves erased a two-goal deficit, tying the Pride, 2-2, in the last meeting in Hempstead. Dawid Ditrich '09 saved a penalty kick from Richard Martinez in the 79th minute before senior Mladen Ramic (Belgrade, Serbia) tied the game in the 88th minute.
The Seawolves, who advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005, return eight starters from last year's team. Sophomore midfielder Leonardo Fernandes (North Babylon, N.Y.) led the Seawolves offense with seven goals and two assists en route to winning the 2009 America East Rookie of the Year. Sophomore Berian Gobeil (Montreal, Quebec) and junior Wilber Bonilla (Brentwood, N.Y.) combined to tally eight goals.
Three of Hofstra's four leading scorers are back, including Johannes Grahn and Stephan Barea, who each scored six goals.
Stony Brook was picked to finish second in the America East preseason poll while Hofstra was picked to finish seventh in the CAA.
