Top-ranked Stony Brook women crush No. 23 Cornell
Stony Brook midfielder Ally Kennedy follows through on her shot for a goal against Northwestern in the second round of the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship at LaValle Stadium on May 14, 2017. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Following another all-too-easy win — the norm lately for the No. 1 Stony Brook women’s lacrosse team — coach Joe Spallina was adamant about his team’s standing relative to Boston College, which has steadily crept closer to the Seawolves in the national rankings in large part because of a stronger conference.
“I’m not worried,” Spallina said. “I’d play BC yesterday. I’d play them tomorrow too, and the day after that. We’re not scared of BC, I can tell you that. They should be concerned with us.”
This came after another laugher by the Seawolves, who dismantled Cornell, 19-4, in front of approximately 600 fans who braved the wind and rain at LaValle Stadium Tuesday night in a non-conference game. Cornell entered No. 23 in the country, according to the IWLCA.
Spallina credited the play of midfielders Ally Kennedy (five goals, two assists, six draw controls) and Samantha DiSalvo (one goal, three assists, four ground balls, four draw controls, two caused turnovers) for impacting every phase of the game.
“It feels really good since last year he didn’t throw many compliments at me . . . At times we butted heads, but I gave in, which is probably the best decision I ever made,” Kennedy said.
Courtney Murphy scored five goals, and she’s now just two away from tying the all-time Division 1 record of 289 held by Temple’s Gail Cummings. She’ll likely reach that milestone Thursday at Hartford. Kylie Ohlmiller had four goals and an assist and her sister, Taryn, had three goals and an assist.
It’s this depth, both enviable and frightening for opponents, that has Spallina confident in the Seawolves. Stony Brook (10-0) and Boston College (13-0), which plays in the ACC, are the only two undefeated teams left in Division I. Boston College is ranked second, according to Inside Lacrosse, with only six fewer first-place votes (nine) than Stony Brook (15).
“This was a quality, big-time performance against a top 25 team,” Spallina said after his team outshot Cornell 28-13 (21-4 in the first half). “I think we showed a lot of teams why we’re the No. 1 team in the country and why we should stay there.”
Cornell (6-4) posed somewhat of a threat on the draw, using its physicality to its advantage. Stony Brook won 14 of the 25, and DiSalvo said it was a team effort.
“I think just as a unit we were communicating through it,” she said. “We were making sure wherever the ball was, we had two, three people ready to go.”
Being ready to go has always been one of Spallina’s focuses, and though Boston College isn’t on the regular season slate, a possible NCAA Tournament matchup could be on the horizon. If it was up to Spallina, he would have played BC Tuesday.
