Stony Brook Earns First-Round Bye In America East Tournament

STONY BROOK, N.Y.--The Stony Brook men’s soccer team moved into second place in the America East and earned a first-round bye in the conference tournament when they defeated the Hartford Hawks, 1-0, on Saturday night.

The win in their regular-season finale pushed the Seawolves’ unbeaten streak to five games.  Stony Brook hasn’t been behind at the final whistle since October 7.

A pre-game ceremony honored seniors Diego Acero (Greenport, N.Y.), Oscar Leis (Ozone Park, N.Y.), Damion Brown (Kingston, Jamaica), James Palumbo (Carmel, N.Y.) and Collin Geoghegan (Lindenhurst, N.Y.), but it was the freshmen that made the greatest impact once the referee started the game.

Freshman Leonardo Fernandes (North Babylon, N.Y.) provided the only goal in the 21^st minute.  A long throw-in from freshman Antonio Crespi (North Babylon, N.Y.) found its way past a crowd in front of the goal and fell kindly for Fernandes, who pounded home the game-winner.  Fernandes leads the team with six goals in the season.

Redshirt freshman Anthony Rogic (Boonton, N.J.) recorded a career high eight saves, including a brilliant stop to keep the Seawolves level in the 17^th minute.  Hartford’s Sam Groves hit a powerful drive that looked sure to be headed for the top corner of the goal.  With little time to react, Rogic dove high to his left and snatched away the hard shot, holding on to preserve the shutout.

Each year, the America East holds a post-season tournament to determine who will represent the conference in the NCAA national championship tournament.  Seeding for the America East tournament is decided by a team’s finishing position in the regular season.  Because they finished in second place, Stony Brook is granted a first-round bye. 

The Seawolves will play the winner of the November 7^th matchup between the #3-seed Hartford Hawks and the #6 seed Boston University.