Stony Brook, Cornell Release 2017 Schedules

The Stony Brook Seawolves and Cornell Big Red are the next two teams in our 2017 schedule preview series. The Seawolves finished 12-4 last season and were one of the teams that was on the bubble for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. But tough 10-9 losses against Marist in the regular season and Vermont in the America East semifinals derailed their postseason hopes. Cornell finished a disappointing 6-7 and were 1-5 in Ivy League conference play after making the NCAA Tournament in 2015. Let’s dive into each schedule.

STONY BROOK

The Seawolves’ 2017 slate has nearly the same opponents as it did last year, with the only exception being Marist for the first time since 2010. Bad blood? Probably not, as it’s been a home-and-home for the past six years. But anyway, Stony Brook begins the season with the same five opponents as they did in 2016. They’ll be on the road for their first three straight, and four of their five games. It begins February 14 against Sacred Heart, followed by a short trip to Queens to take on St. John’s on the 19th. The three game road trip, as well as the month of February, conclude with a game against Brown on the 25th.

The team’s home opener is March 4 against Fairfield, followed by another road game against Rutgers on March 10. The Seawolves will host Lehigh on the 14th, before opening up America East conference play at home against UMBC four days later. They’ll make a quick stop through some Long Island highway to Hempstead to take on Hofstra March 21. March wraps up with a trip to Hartford to take on defending league champion Hartford on the 26th.

April doesn’t begin kindly for the Seawolves, as Albany comes to town on the first of the month. Stony Brook then hosts Princeton on the 8th, before going up to Burlington, Vermont to take on the Catamounts in a rematch of last year’s AE semifinal game. The rematch will be on the 15th. Stony Brook closes at UMass Lowell on April 21, followed by their regular season finale at home against Binghamton on April 28.

The Seawolves lose a ton of contributors from last season, especially attackmen Matt Schultz and Brody Eastwood, as well as midfielder Challen Rogers and goaltender Zach Oliveri, who started all 16 games for the Seawolves after transferring from UMass. Midfielders Alex Corpolongo and Jeff Reh, along with attackman Ryan Bitzer, are now seniors and will be looked to continue the success on offense. On defense, LSM Ryland Rees is a big return, as he was second on the team in caused turnovers with 15 last season. Tyler Anderson also returns, but head coach Jim Nagle needs guys such as sophomore James Gerstner and senior Joe Fraietta to step us this season. Without Oliveri, the starting goaltender is still as a question, as it’s between senior Hayden Johnstone, junior Brandon Maciejewski, and sophomore Dan Comber. Maciejewski played in 13 games for just above 360 minutes last season with a .554 save percentage and a 9.00 goals against average. Senior Jay Lindsay should be back to take the majority of the face-offs this season.

CORNELL

The Big Red will start with two scrimmages at Drexel (February 4) and at home against Binghamton (February 11), before starting the season at Penn State on February 18. They’ll stay in Central New York to take on Hobart in Geneva on the 25th.

Cornell’s home opener is March 4, as the team will host Albany at Schoellkopf Field. The following week, the team will head to Costa Mesa, California to take on Lars Tiffany and the new look Virginia Cavaliers in the Pacific Coast Shootout on March 11. This will also be the first game between two of the best freshmen in the country in Cornell’s Jeff Teat and Virginia’s Dox Aitken. Inside Lacrosse has the kids 1-2 in their Power 100 freshmen rankings. So could this lacrosse’s version of Auston Matthews-Patrick Laine? I don’t know. But what we do know is the team’s Ivy League opener is in New Haven, Connecticut against Yale on March 18, before a nonconference mid-week game at home against Colgate three days later. March concludes with a home contest against Penn on the 25th.

The Big Red’s three game homestand concludes against Dartmouth on April 1. Cornell will travel to Cambridge to take on Harvard on April 8, followed by a short trip to Syracuse to take on the Orange in the Carrier Dome on April 11.

Ed. Note: THIS IS THE FIRST SYRACUSE GAME WE KNOW OF!!!

Last year, the Big Red upset the Orange at home in overtime. This will also be the third annual Battle of the Pulver Brothers (trademark pending), as it’ll have Big Red defenseman Jake Pulver facing off against Syracuse’s Josh Pulver, an LSM. The team’s final nonconference game is at home against Lehigh on the 15th. A trip to Rhode Island to take on Dylan Molloy and Brown follows on the 22nd, with the regular season finale at home against archrival Princeton on April 29.

Last year’s points leader, John Edmonds, has graduated. He had 26 points in 2016, which is a pretty low total compared to totals from Matt Donovan, Connor Buczek, and even Rob Pannell from a few years back. But the biggest loss is definitely FOGO Domenic Massimilian, who informed the team he won’t play for the Big Red, but will stay in school and get his degree, before moving on to graduate school and perhaps playing again in 2018. But as for returning players, sophomores Colton Rupp, Clarke Petterson, and Ryan Bray made immediate impacts to the team last season. Ryan Matthews, not the Eagles running back who only has one “t” in his last name, returns for his senior campaign following 18 goals and three assists last season. Kason Tarbell might also see some increased playing time at midfield. On defense, Tony Britton’s departure hurts, but at least the team has senior Marshall Peters, along with juniors Scott Flynn and the aforementioned Jake Pulver. With Massimilian gone, the face-off battle will be between senior Grant Mahler and incoming freshman Paul Rasimowicz. In goal, Christian Knight (‘member him?) returns after missing all of last season due to academic reasons and a bad ankle. Although he’s a senior due to Ivy League rules, he should still have a year left of eligibility.

To see every team’s schedule and which one’s we’ve highlighted, check our our master schedule list.