Freshman Brody Eastwood scores five goals in Stony Brook victory
Stony Brook's Brody Eastwood shoots and scores against Siena goalie Matt Sharp. (March 5, 2013) Credit: George A. Faella
Canada has provided a nice pipeline for the men's lacrosse team at Stony Brook. The latest import is Brody Eastwood and the freshman attack produced a career day with five goals as the Seawolves beat Siena, 11-9, Tuesday at LaValle Stadium.
Stony Brook has a roster of underclassmen, so there is no waiting and watching for several first-year players. "Guys are getting thrown in without much experience," Eastwood said, "It's on-the-job training."
Eastwood had scored the winning goal in the third overtime against Rutgers on Saturday. He has three multiple-goal games.
Eastwood is from Victoria, British Columbia, not far from former Stony Brook stars Kevin Crowley and Jordan McBride. "I looked up McBride and those guys, when they came over here,'' Eastwood said. "They are over from the West Coast where I'm from and they made [Stony Brook] heard over there, for sure.''
Stony Brook (4-2) needed heavy production from Eastwood as Siena (1-4) was a tough opponent to put away. It looked comfortable when Eastwood's second goal gave the Seawolves a 6-3 lead with 4:31 left in the second quarter, but Siena quickly tied the score on two goals by Richie Hurley (Ward Melville) and a third by Conor Prunty. Mike Rooney and Matt Schultz combined to give Stony Brook a two-goal lead before Hurley's third goal brought Siena within one with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Eastwood, who now has 12 goals, scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter and Stony Brook was headed to its third straight victory.
Rooney and Jeff Tundo each had two goals and an assist. Canadian freshman Challen Rogers had three assists. Hurley had a hat trick for Siena.
"A lot of these young guys don't have the luxury of sitting on the sidelines, they are thrown right into the fire,'' Seawolves coach Jim Nagle said. "They need to understand but also appreciate that they are getting that opportunity.''
Eastwood is on board with that, saying, "Coaches are believing in me, I'm just trying to contribute the best way I can.''
Stony Brook visits No. 1 Maryland on Sunday.
