Stony Brook women’s lacrosse edged by No. 3 Florida
Florida midfielder Sydney Pirreca is guarded by Stony Brook defender Alyssa Fleming in an NCAA Division I women's lacrosse game at LaValle Stadium on Sunday, March 6, 2016. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Kasey Mitchell needed her appendix removed Friday and Kristin Yevoli rolled an ankle in practice Saturday. This wasn’t the best timing for Stony Brook, down two main midfielders with the No. 3 women’s lacrosse team in the country about to invade LaValle Stadium.
The Seawolves were in a three-goal hole at halftime Sunday against Florida. But Dorrien Van Dyke helped them climb out, assisting on one and scoring the next two. The program-record home crowd of 2,934 saw her tie it with 14:19 to go. And then it was untied 12 seconds later — by the hungry Gators.
Florida held on for a 7-6 win to move to 7-0. But the one-goal loss also showed a lot about this shorthanded Stony Brook team, coming off an 18-2 season and ranked No. 8 and No. 10 in the two major polls after an 18-4 opening win at Bryant.
“As I told our women inside, I’ve been proud of them before; I’m not sure I’ve been more proud of them than I am today,” coach Joe Spallina said.
“A lot of people thought we were possibly a one-year wonder. Obviously, the result is disappointing. But I think we kind of let everybody know we’re the real deal and we can play with and beat anybody in the country. Our goal is to win a national championship.”
Nicole Graziano set up Sammi Burgess’ go-ahead score and delivered four straight goals in the first half.
After Graziano drove and hit Burgess to give Florida a 6-5 lead, Taylor Bresnahan beat Anna Tesoriero for what turned out to be the winning goal. Taylor Rantfle countered on a free-position score with 9:35 left, cutting the Seawolves’ deficit to 7-6. Courtney Murphy had a shot from in front stopped by Mary-Sean Wilcox with 1:13 remaining, preserving the lead.
“Being an offensive player, I think our offense, especially myself, could have played a lot better,” said Kylie Ohlmiller, who contributed a goal and an assist.
Florida led 5-2 at the break. Then Van Dyke fed Alyssa Guido for a goal and scored on two free-position shots.
“I think just the fight we had today was really awesome,” Van Dyke said.
Graziano turned a 2-1 deficit into the 5-2 lead with her four goals in a span of 6:25. The final one was set up by Sydney Pirreca, a freshman midfielder from Mount Sinai, one of 10 Gators from Long Island.
“The fans are all filled with familiar faces, so it hits home a little bit,” Pirreca said. “So it’s definitely nice to come out with the win.”
