Ask a student at Stony Brook what sports they think about when it comes to their school’s teams. Odds are they’ll either say men’s football, basketball or both. After all, those are the two most popular NCAA sports.
But over the past couple of seasons, neither team has lived up to its full potential. The Seawolves football squad is 10-13 over the past two years. The basketball team has posted a solid 20-10 record so far this season, but their hopes of entering the March Madness competition fell short after losing the AEC Championship game to Albany.
There are some pretty underrated teams here at the university that students haven’t paid much attention to.
The men’s baseball team is one. While they have a mediocre 10-11 record to start the season, it’s important to keep in mind that they have a solid 7-4 record at home at Joe Nathan Field. The venue is named after the longtime successful MLB closing pitcher who played for Stony Brook back in the 1990s. The other two MLB Stony Brook alumni are fellow pitchers Tom Koehler and Nick Tropeano. The team is just one year removed from being the AEC Champions and three removed from being the first ever team from the AEC to reach the College World Series. Needless to say, they should be entertaining to watch.
A team with a more pleasing record to the eye is the women’s tennis team with a 8-1 record to start the year. They haven’t played a home game yet. They will be looking for their fourth straight conference tournament championship this year, and they’re off to a roaring start. The men’s tennis team has been stumbled out of the gate so far, posting a 4-5 record. They won their only game on home soil so far.
The men and women’s lacrosse teams are also looking to have successful seasons. They are 8-2 and 10-0 respectively so far. The men look to become the champions in the conference tournament again for the first time since 2012, while the women are seeking a three-peat. It’s impressive that the women’s team hasn’t dropped a game yet.
Perhaps the most exciting team right now for Stony Brook is the ice hockey team, yet they aren’t even featured on the Stony Brook Athletics site’s dropdown menu. The Seawolves went on to beat the University of Delaware Blue Hens 5-4 in overtime to win their third straight ESCHL championship, courtesy of assistant captain JT Hall’s goal. After beating Rhode Island, Robert Morris Illinois and Arizona State, Stony Brook fell short against Central Oklahoma in the finals of the National Tournament. The team finished with a 33-6 record overall, won their third consecutive conference title, and ended the season as the #2 ranked team in the United States.
So Stony Brook has plenty of teams with a winning pedigree after all outside the two main collegiate sports. It should be fun tracking the progress and success (hopefully) of the Seawolves over the rest of the semester.
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