Ohlmiller sisters step up in Stony Brook women’s lacrosse rout of Binghamton
Stony Brook's Kylie Ohlmiller #17 is congratulated by her sister Taryn Ohlmiller #21 and Kerri McCarthy #24 after scoring a first half goal against Binghamton at Stony Brook University's Lavalle Stadium on April 8, 2017. Credit: Daniel De Mato
The Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team is all about sharing.
After each home game, they show appreciation for supporters with postgame autograph sessions, in which younger fans line up in excitement awaiting their favorite players.
On Saturday afternoon, the No. 4 Seawolves took to sharing on the turf at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium, assisting 15 of 20 goals in a 20-4 win over Binghamton in an America East game.
“That’s kind of just the style of our offense,” said Kylie Ohlmiller, who had one goal and seven assists and leads the nation with 83 points (41 goals, 42 assists). “Coach was saying it in the locker room that if some of our big scorers aren’t really scoring that much, can’t find the cage, we have backup scorers.”
Stony Brook raced out to a 13-2 lead by scoring 11 unanswered goals over a nearly 18-minute segment of the first half. The Seawolves outshot Binghamton 30-8 at halftime and 45-12 for the game.
Patience and ball movement allowed the Seawolves to find a variety of scorers, with 11 players tallying at least one goal.
Taryn Ohlmiller, Kylie’s sister and arguably one of the top contenders for national rookie of the year, had three goals and four assists. She has helped the Seawolves compile its current six-game winning streak despite losing 100-goal scorer Courtney Murphy to an ACL injury on March 5.
“Once Murphy went down, obviously, somebody had to step up, and everybody’s been stepping up as a team,” she said. “Working with everybody has been great, and everybody’s been helping me.”
Kristin Yevoli added three goals and Samantha DiSalvo, a reliable weapon on offense who had been struggling to finish in recent games, had a team-high four goals.
“Obviously, it feels great [to score], but we got that win as a team and that’s the most important part,” she said. “We’ve been winning, so it doesn’t matter if I’m scoring if we’re winning.”
There’s not one go-to scorer for Stony Brook (11-1, 3-0). Coach Joe Spallina has impressive depth and knows how to use it, and the unselfish style of his players often leads to optimal attempts at the cage.
The Seawolves have notched 121 assists, tops in the nation at 10.08 assists per game. That giving spirit then carries over to the postgame autographs.
“It’s a point of emphasis for our program to embrace the community and get out there,” Spallina said. “You can’t say you’re going be Long Island’s team and then just show up to play.”
The most sought after autograph likely belongs to Kylie Ohlmiller, a front-runner for this year’s Tewaaraton Award for best player and a fan favorite.
“She’s like one of the Beatles,” Spallina said. “She’s a rock star.”
