Coming off of a 13-10 home loss to Hofstra University on March 22, the UNH women’s lacrosse team felt they played close enough to win.
On Sunday afternoon against Stony Brook University, that was not the case.
UNH was dominated Sunday by the No. 7 ranked Stony Brook Seawolves in a game that the ‘Cats were outmatched on the field and the scoreboard, falling by a score of 14-2 at Wildcat Stadium.
“Stony Brook’s a good team,” head coach Sarah Albrecht said. “I think we fought in certain spots on the draw. On defense, I felt like we were following the game plan, so that was good.”
Entering the tilt with Stony Brook, New Hampshire was averaging 13.67 goals against per game. By the end of Sunday’s matchup, that number would increase.
UNH felt the heat early while playing against a Stony Brook team loaded with talent. With roughly 20 minutes to play in the first half, the Seawolves were up 7-0 and Stony Brook’s Dorrien Van Dyke had already netted her second goal of the game.
From there, the Seawolves remained in full control of the game.
Stony Brook would net three more goals to go up 10-0 before the end of the half and before the Wildcats would get on the board.
UNH’s Carly Wooters scored her 14th goal of the season to hand the ‘Cats their first goal of the game, cutting the deficit to 10-1 with an unassisted goal with 18 seconds remaining in the half.
The Seawolves would continue their dominance in the second half, beginning with four consecutive goals as UNH could not contain the Stony Brook players in and around the attacking zone in front of goalkeeper Kate Clancy, who finished with 10 saves.
“It was mostly us,” Albrecht said on the team’s challenges with the Seawolves. “We challenged ourselves. We weren’t able to run plays how we were supposed to run them and we need to be able to do that moving forward.”
While Stony Brook made a habit of breaking down UNH’s defense and making pushes towards the net, the ‘Cats simply couldn’t.
UNH struggled with penetrating the Seawolves’ defensive barrier in front of the net, causing the ‘Cats to force more passing along the perimeter and less scoring chances.
But with 6:10 to go, UNH broke through Stony Brook’s defense, again, for its second goal of the game. Krissy Schafer netted her 22nd goal of the season, with the assist from Rebecca Sennott.
The Wildcats remain winless on the season, dropping to 0-10 on a year that has not given Albrecht and company much to build off of.
As the losing trend continues for the ‘Cats, Albrecht already has her team focusing on the next test in the University of Vermont on Saturday, April 1 in Burlington, Vermont at 3 p.m.
“We’re looking forward to [Vermont],” Albrecht said. “It’s going to be a tough game and we have to make sure that we’re fighting. It’s a conference game so it’s not too hard to get ready for it.”
For more information, visit unhwildcats.com.
