Oct. 11, 2002

The Matchup: Stony Brook (1-10-1, 0-2) returns to America East Conference Action on Saturday against Northeastern (4-6-2, 1-1).

The Huskies handed Hartford a 2-1 loss in overtime on Wednesday, while the Seawolves fell to Rider in non-conference action, 2-1.

Series History: Northeastern leads the all-time series, 3-1, and shut out the Seawolves, 5-0, last year. Senior Petter Starnas had a hat trick for Northeastern to lead the Huskies to their fifth straight America East victory.

NU controlled the match from the beginning, holding the Seawolves to just four total shots, only one of which came in the second half. Starnas scored the game-winner in the 13th minute of play off an assist from Ben Collins.

Matt Thibdeau made six saves in his first collegiate start for the Seawolves.

Scouting the Huskies: Before Wednesday's win over Hartford, Northeastern had dropped three straight.Junior midfielder Atha Kirkopoulos, who shares the team lead with 10 points, scored the gamewinner in the 94th minute for Northeastern's first conference victory of the season.

Senior forward Nate Haughton and junior forward Bennie Preske lead the Huskies with four goals each on the year. Kirkopolous has three goals and four assists to his credit.

Freshman Sergio Saccoccio has seen most of the action between the posts with 1111 minutes. He has allowed 16 goals (1.30 GAA) with 43 saves (.719).

Common Foes: Today's teams have two opponents in common--Holy Cross and Sacred Heart.

Stony Brook dropped a heartbreaker to Holy Cross, losing 2-1on a goal that came just 13 seconds before the end of overtime. The Seawolves tied the Pioneers, 1-1.

Northeastern fell to Holy Cross 1-0 but earned a convincing 5-0 win over SHU.

Last Time Out: Rider sophomore Sandro DeCristofaro scored as the final horn sounded to give Rider a 2-1 win over Stony Brook in Lawrenceville, N.J., on Tuesday.

Senior Ryan Gallagher collected a loose ball at midfield and chipped a high pass to DeCristofaro, who carried the ball into the goal box and scored his first collegiate goal with less than one second remaining.

Rider (3-4-1) tied the score at 1-1 with just 6:35 left in the game on a goal by senior Sean O'Hare, his team-high fourth goal of the season.

Stony Brook (1-10-1) took a 1-0 lead with 1:23 left in the first half on a breakaway goal by Josh Allen, his second of the season.

Rider out-shot Stony Brook 12-7. Rider junior goalkeeper Brian Gill made two saves, while Seawolves goalkeeper Dan Ferrin collected four.

Perfect 12: Only three Seawolves have started all 12 games this season--sophomore defender Josh Allen, sophomore defender Rob Yturraspe and junior goalkeeper Dan Ferrin.

Sophomore defender Chris Musinski was ineligible for the first two games of the season, but has started all 10 since.

Three Lead the Way: Anthony Barberio, Josh Allen and Chris Musinski have each scored two goals to lead Stony Brook in scoring this season.

Second Half Letdown: Out of the 26 goals that Stony Brook's opponents have scored this year, only seven have come in the first half.

Most of the damage has come in the second half, when Seawolves opponents have tallied 17 goals.

Stony Brook has also given up two goals in overtime. Out of three overtime contests, the Seawolves have lost two and tied in one.

Close Calls: Half of Stony Brook's 10 losses this year have come by only one goal.

News and Notes: After today, three of Stony Brook's five remaining games will be at home . . .the Seawolves close the season on Nov. 2 against New Hampshire.