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For Stony Brook head coach Joe Spallina, the JMA Wireless Dome is the “Yankee Stadium” of lacrosse.

So when Spallina’s Seawolves traveled to Syracuse at a 4-0 mark, the team was looking to salvage a win any way they could. In a place it had won just one game in program history, Stony Brook found itself trailing by two with seven minutes to go.

Down but not out, the Seawolves did what they had done all game — answer with a game-changing run. In a five-minute sequence, Stony Brook scored three unanswered goals to retake the lead with 1:08 remaining.

Syracuse tied the game with 10 seconds left, but star midfielder Ellie Masera scored the overtime game-winner 90 seconds later. The goal sealed the Seawolves’ upset as No. 5 Syracuse (3-3, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell 13-12 to No. 12 Stony Brook (5-0, 0-0 Coastal Athletic Association) in a back-and-forth affair.

“That was a season-defining play,” Spallina said postgame of Masera’s heroics. “We technically lost a draw. She chased it down and took a foul. Got a man up and then our seven players on offense were able to get one there.”

Through six games, the Orange have already matched their loss total from 2023. After not dropping a game at the Dome in 2023, this was SU’s second of the season at home. Though Syracuse continuously bounced back from every answer Stony Brook gave, the mistakes were too much to overcome.

“I really don’t think we played to our potential tonight,” said SU head coach Kayla Treanor postgame. “I feel like we gave them a lot of gifts in this game.”

Early on, Syracuse’s lack of offense stemmed from Stony Brook’s offensive strategy. The Seawolves entered Tuesday’s game second in the nation in time of possession, according to Lacrosse Reference, holding the ball 58.5% of the time.

Stony Brook rarely attacked early in possessions, often passing just in front of the restraining line until the shot clock wound down to under 50 seconds. The Seawolves mounted a two-goal lead when Kailyn Hart tallied a goal, but SU cut the deficit to one before the end of the half when leading goal-scorer Olivia Adamson got on the board.

Both sides displayed lockdown defense throughout the first half, limiting shots and killing shot clocks. While the Seawolves purposely worked the clock down, Syracuse’s offense did for the wrong reasons. Stony Brook pushed SU outside of the 12-meter, forcing it to work possession around X. Emma Ward and Emma Tyrrell couldn’t match the star talent of Masera. Simultaneously, Natalie Smith remained quiet after her one-goal performance Saturday versus Duke, culminating in a 5-4 deficit at the break.

But SU began the second half with its best possession of the game up to that point. The Orange patiently broke the Seawolves defense, one which ceased much offense in the first 30 minutes.

Maddy Baxter won the draw and SU set up its attack. After working the ball around for more than 60 seconds, Adamson found Tyrrell streaking across the middle. Tyrrell shot as she faded to her right, beating Emily Manning to tie the game at 5-5. Soon after, the Orange took their first lead of the game with a goal from Meghan Rode. Savannah Sweitzer added a goal on a behind-the-back shot to complete a 3-0 run and mount a 7-5 lead.

From there the teams went run for run, often taking a small lead and quickly giving it up.

“Lacrosse is a game of runs so it’s going to happen,” Adamson said. “But we just need to cut those a little bit shorter.”

But the Seawolves answered. Hart’s second and third goals mixed with a Jaden Hampel goal put Stony Brook back up. Tyrrell answered before the third quarter closed, tying the game at 8-8.

Following an eight-minute scoring drought with the game knotted, Hart capitalized again, notching her fourth goal of the game to give Stony Brook another lead. Still, leading late, Spallina and his team knew more runs were in store.

“I told our defense when we went up, it’s going to come down to us having to make a stop here,” Spallina said. “We’re gonna need one more because it’s just the way the game is.”

As the Seawolves led by one with under 10 minutes to play, two 3-0 runs occurred. One looked to result in SU’s third-straight win while the other foreshadowed an eventual heartbreaking loss.

Syracuse’s attack went to work, led by its biggest stars. In two minutes, Smith, Tyrrell and Ward all converted on free-position opportunities, flipping a one-goal deficit to an 11-9 lead. Syracuse looked to be in control. Until Stony Brook goals from Verhulst and Hart — her game-high fifth goal — tied the contest at 11-11 with two minutes to play.

Then, Stony Brook won the ensuing draw control and as the shot clock struck 20 seconds, Alex Finn tallied her fifth assist of the game — the biggest yet. Finn moved left to right across X before firing a pass to a streaking Masera. With Smith, her defender, in the dust, Masera buried it, giving Stony Brook its third straight and a lead with 68 seconds to play.

Luckily for SU, it had one more run in it to push the game to overtime. Following a draw control win, Syracuse worked the ball around the 12-meter. From X, Tyrrell found Baxter in a tight pocket. Baxter used her frame to fire a shot off through three defenders, beating Manning to tie the game with 10 seconds to go. While the goal was a temporary game-saver, Treanor saw it as a slight based on its previous seven minutes of sloppy play.

“We shouldn’t have to make a miraculous play with 10 seconds left. We’ve got to be able to finish when we’re open. It’s just unfortunate because we would love to have those back.”

In overtime, Kate Mashewske initially won the draw control. But Masera came storming in from 15 yards out to steal the crucial possession. Masera charged up the sideline with the ball until Baxter fouled her. Baxter was sent off with a green card, allowing Stony Brook to gain momentum — which culminated in Masera beating Delaney Sweitzer to seal Syracuse’s fate.

It wasn’t Mariano Rivera closing a World Series game at Yankee Stadium, but Masera closed out Stony Brook’s win at the Dome to hand Syracuse its second overtime loss of the season.

“At the end of the game, that’s who they went to and she made it happen both times,” Treanor said.

Published on March 5, 2024 at 9:22 pm

Contact Aiden at: amstepan@syr.edu | @AidenStepansky