St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Lacrosse Falls to Local Rival Stony Brook
2/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
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Box Score
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's Lacrosse team fell, 14-6, to Stony Brook in a physical contest between local rivals on an unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y.
Today's contest was a tale of two halves as St .John's trailed by just one goal, 5-4, at the end of the first half before Stony Brook's attacking unit went on a 7-0 run and outscored the Johnnies 9-2 in the second half.
St. John's successfully retained the ball for long periods of time today as the Johnnies split the faceoff battle with the Seawolves, each winning 11-of-22. Justin Corpolongo took the majority of the faceoffs for the Red Storm, winning 10-of-21. St. John's also corralled 33 groundballs to Stony Brook's 25 and Corpolongo led the team with four.
Jason DeBenedictis and Eric DeJohn led the scoring effort for the Red Storm, each scoring two, and DeJohn added two assists for a four point day.
The teams combined for 13 penalties and nine minutes of extra-man opportunities. In the physical style of play, St. John's was held to just 1-of-6 in the extra-man game, which proved to be a difference in the game, as Stony Brook scored on 4-of-7 man-up chances.
After surrendering a first quarter goal to Alex Corpolongo, brother of St. John's Justin Corpolongo, the Red Storm knotted the game at one on a bouncing shot from DeBenedictis as the attackman was tripped up in the crease. The Johnnies made it two in a row just two minutes later when DeJohn scored on an unassisted runner from behind the net.
Trailing 5-2 at the start of the second frame, St. John's cut the lead to two during a man-up opportunity. Declan Swartwood assisted Corey Haynes on a pass that went the width of the field before Haynes found the net on a shot ripped from 20 yards out. This was Haynes' first goal of the season.
Despite several man-up opportunities both teams played to a stalemate throughout most of the second quarter. The game went 12 minutes without a goal before DeBenedictis added his second goal on an assist from DeJohn.
Led by two saves from O'Keeffe the St. John's defensive stronghold held Stony Brook scoreless through the entire second quarter and for 21 minutes straight from the end of the first frame until midway through the third. St. John's last held an opponent to a scoreless quarter during the team's 17-7 victory over Providence in March of 2015.
In what proved to be a turning point in the contest, Stony Brook Head Coach Jim Nagle replaced starting goalie Zach Oliveri with Brad Macijewski to begin the second half. The game's pace slowed during the first part of the third quarter, however the Stony Brook attack came up with five straight during the remaining 8:54 of the third quarter, pushing the score to 10-4.
Trailing 14-5 with 7:41 left in the final frame, Miller made a swap in goal as Joseph Danaher played the remainder of the game in net. Danaher, a junior netminder, picked up two saves in the quarter and in part to a couple of long offensive possessions St .John's held Stony Brook to 14 the rest of the way. The junior replaced starter Michael O'Keeffe who saved 10-of-24 shots on net.
St. John's has more than a week off before the Red Storm travels to Philadelphia, Pa., for an inaugural battle against Saint Joseph's on Wednesday, March 2 at 4 p.m.
