SBU lets down its guard against Marist
Stony Brook's leading scorer, Tom Haun, credited the Marist game plan with limiting him to one goal and two assists in a 10-5 loss on Saturday at Stony Brook University. Credit: Richard T. Slattery
In Tom Haun’s eyes, Stony Brook was beset by overconfidence.
“Coming off the big win against Hofstra on Tuesday, I think we came in a little too confident,” said Haun, who had one goal and two assists as the Stony Brook men’s lacrosse team fell at home to Marist, 10-5, on Saturday afternoon. “I think we overestimated ourselves and overlooked this game a little bit. We came out really flat and they’re a good team. We never got back into it.”
After allowing five unanswered, momentum-shifting goals in the third quarter, Stony Brook (2-2) never regained its footing.
Michael Smith kick-started the second half for Marist (2-2) by scoring 1:19 into the third and James Lyons picked up his third goal with 8:46 left in the quarter to extend the lead to 5-3.
Jojo Pirreca, who also scored three goals, followed up an Alex Viola goal with two straight and knocked Stony Brook into an 8-3 hole with 1:46 left in the period.
“They just had good energy coming out of the half,” Haun said. “We were still flat. That was the difference. They played harder than us. They ground-balled harder than us and they ran harder.”
A leaping shot by Chris Pickel Jr. with 14:05 remaining brought the Seawolves within 8-4, but the Red Foxes quickly responded. Pirreca scored at the 12:41-mark before Jake Weinman unleashed a shot around a defender and into the net with 10:43 left, widening the lead to six.
“They gave us a little bit of a different look than we had seen previously,” Seawolves coach Jim Nagle said. “I thought we didn’t convert on a lot of shots and looks at the cage and it got away from us. They were packed in pretty tight and we didn’t convert.”
Haun, who entered the day leading Stony Brook in scoring with nine goals, credited Marist for a well-executed game plan in containing him but also took responsibility for his low-scoring performance.
“They were shutting picks so I couldn’t come off them,” Haun said. “It was a good game plan, but I have to be better. It’s as simple as that.”
As Stony Brook prepares to host Sacred Heart on Tuesday, Nagle believes this is an opportunity for growth.
“It’s a quick turnaround, so we have to learn and grow from it,” Nagle said. “I have a lot of faith in our guys that we’re going to improve and get back to it.”
