Great Danes Rally Late to Secure Draw Against Stony Brook
ALBANY, N.Y. — Down two goals with 10 minutes left, UAlbany refused to fold.
The Great Danes stormed back from a 2-0 deficit to grab a 2-2 draw against Stony Brook on Wednesday afternoon at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium, salvaging a point from a match they largely controlled but nearly let slip away.
UAlbany moves to 2-4-1, while Stony Brook leaves at 3-0-4, both still unbeaten in conference play with league action yet to begin.
UAlbany on the front foot
From the opening whistle, UAlbany carried the initiative.
Sydney Kofton fired the first warning shot in the 5th minute, setting the tone for a relentless attacking display. The Great Danes peppered the Stony Brook goal all afternoon, finishing with a 30-16 advantage in shots and an 11-4 edge in attempts on target.
Kofton was everywhere. She led all players with 11 shots, including eight headers, and tested the Seawolves’ back line repeatedly with her presence in the box.
Stony Brook, though, nearly stole the lead against the run of play. In the 25th minute, Maya Corbett rattled the post with a drive that had Claudia Volino beaten, only for the ball to bounce out and keep the score level.
Volino’s first save had come a minute earlier, in the 24th, and UAlbany responded to that scare by pouring forward. Six more shots flew toward goal before halftime, but the final touch kept deserting them. The teams went into the break locked at 0-0, UAlbany dominant in volume, Stony Brook content to absorb and counter.
Seawolves strike, twice
The deadlock finally broke after halftime, and it broke against the hosts.
In the 56th minute, Stony Brook capitalized on their growing foothold, slotting home to make it 1-0. The goal shifted the mood. UAlbany, for all its pressure, suddenly trailed.
The setback didn’t slow the Great Danes’ shooting, but it did sharpen Stony Brook’s confidence. The Seawolves doubled their lead in the 71st minute, pushing the score to 2-0 and silencing the early-afternoon buzz around Casey Stadium.
Two chances taken. UAlbany on the brink.
Blannett sparks the comeback
The response was emphatic.
With time slipping away, UAlbany finally found the breakthrough in the 80th minute. Meredith Blannett, who had been busy all match, buried her first goal of the season to slice the deficit in half at 2-1. She finished with six shots on the day, and this one changed everything.
The goal ignited the Great Danes. Energy surged back into the side, and Stony Brook suddenly found themselves pinned deep, trying to protect a lead that had seemed safe just minutes earlier.
The pressure told again in the 87th minute.
This time it was Kiara Levac who delivered, finding the back of the net to drag UAlbany level at 2-2. Levac added four shots of her own, and her late strike completed a furious seven-minute spell that flipped the narrative from defeat to rescue mission completed.
One last chance
Even at 2-2, UAlbany kept pushing.
In the dying seconds, the Great Danes earned a corner and flooded the box for one last swing at all three points. The delivery came in, bodies rose, but the decisive touch never arrived. The final whistle followed, sealing the draw.
On the stat sheet, UAlbany’s dominance was clear: 30 shots to 16, 11 on frame to Stony Brook’s four. On the scoreboard, the margin was thinner. But the character shown in those final 10 minutes might matter more than the numbers.
What’s next
UAlbany now turns to the road, heading to Orono, Maine, for a Sunday matchup with the Black Bears on September 20 at Alumni Field, kickoff at 12:00 p.m.
The question is simple: can the Great Danes bottle that late-game fire and unleash it from the opening whistle?
