Stony Brook Women's Soccer Falls to Maine, 3-1

The Seawolves previously defeated the Maine Black Bears on the same home field just 10 days ago, but familiarity was not an asset for the team during the rematch, and Stony Brook's season ended in a 3-1 upset loss to Maine in an America East semifinal match Sunday. Stony Brook played a physical style and also had to adjust for the strong wind, which seemed to blow many of their deep passes just beyond their reach.

Heroes: The Seawolves did have more scoring opportunities than their opponents, and when one presented itself it was usually junior Colleen McKenna in the driver's seat. The midfielder scored Stony Brook's lone goal in the 90th minute and accounted for six of the team's 14 shots. She was tenacious on the attack, and was even given a yellow card for trying to knock the ball out of the goalie's grasp when they were on the ground.

Turning Point: Already up 1-0, the Black Bears struck again. After having the Seawolves control the tempo of the game, Maine's Kaitlyn MacIsaac lofted a pass from 35 yards out. The pass was misjudged by the defense and landed uncontested. A bounce took the ball to Carolyne Nellis, who carefully placed into the lower right corner of the net, just past the diving Chelsea Morales in goal. It was Nellis' first score of the match and wound up being the gamewinner.

Quote: "We're still a team that's growing with youth. And I think more so with the pressure of playing in a semifinal game brings out more nerves than what we've played with in the past," coach Sue Ryan said. "There's a point where you can almost be trying too hard. We were kind of chasing the game. … We were expected to do well and I think Maine came in with nothing to lose. ... So I think they were playing a little bit more relaxed and we were playing a little bit more tense."

Bottom Line: The season is over. Despite the home-field advantage, a week off to rest and heal minor injuries and having more scoring opportunities, the Seawolves lost. The opening minutes meant turnovers and missed chances and Maine capitalized on the ones they had, scoring at the 11:32 mark and again at 24:00 for a 2-0 lead that Stony Brook could not overcome. Now Ryan will go back to the drawing board and plan for making another run next year. Nine seniors will graduate but most of the core will remain intact. Sa'sha Kershaw, Dominique Adamo, and Morales are some of the stars that will return next year with added experience.

Key Stats:

McKenna: Goal, six shots, yellow card.

Dominique Adamo: Two shots, only one on goal.

Maine: First No. 6 seed to reach the America East Championship game.