US Lacrosse Magazine released the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Women’s Preseason Top 20 on Dec. 17. Team-by-team previews will be unveiled on uslaxmagazine.com through the end of the month and will also appear as part of the magazine’s NCAA preview edition in February.

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No. 12 Stony Brook

2019 Record: 16-5, (7-0, America East)
Coach: Joe Spallina (9th year)
Assistants: Kim Hillier, Greg Miceli, Kylie Ohlmiller

All-Time Record: 202-106
NCAA Appearances: 7
Final Fours: 0
Championships: 0

2020 Schedule

Save the Date
Feb. 29

For Joe Spallina to properly assess his team, this matchup will be integral. The Seawolves open at Syracuse and then host Ohio State before a two-week break during which Spallina can tinker and fix any issues. Stony Brook is 1-6 all-time against Florida. Two losses came by one goal.

Ally Kennedy and Joe Spallina Understand Each Other Now

Given the intensity with which Joe Spallina coaches and Ally Kennedy plays, one would think the pair would have been a perfect match from the start. But maybe that’s why they weren’t.

Spallina saw something in Kennedy while she dominated for her North Babylon (N.Y.) team that couldn’t always field an uber-competitive squad.

“She had a little bit of an attitude,” Spallina said. “I saw it, too, with the heart of a lion who is super competitive. Surround me with a group of kids with that attitude and that mindset, and we’re going to win a lot of games.”

The Seawolves have certainly won games, posting a combined record of 56-8 in Kennedy’s three seasons with the program, and although her future always seemed bright, the beginning of her career was rocky.

Kennedy and Spallina “butt heads” early on. Spallina, who prides himself just as much on teaching as he does on coaching, saw her potential and sought ways to bring it out. He said Kennedy didn’t always accept the style in which he went about doing so.

“That’s one of the things when you see something in a player, it’s your job as a coach and as a professional to get the best out of them,” Spallina said. “Player development is so important to us here, making a good player great.”

It clicked at the end of her freshman season. After a 13-9 win over Northwestern in the second round of the NCAA tournament in which she scored twice, she went over to Spallina and said, ‘I get it, coach. I get it.’

From there, Kennedy has blossomed not only into a program staple, but a locker room leader. And that’s what makes this season so important, in Spallina’s eyes. With Kennedy and Taryn Ohlmiller both commanding respect and dominating on the field as seniors, he has a strong base with which to work.

“When you look at college rosters, it’s always, when your best players are your seniors, I feel like the overall focus of your team is different,” Spallina said. “Ally Kennedy, to me, she’s a special athlete, she’s a special lacrosse player. She’s proven it on every level.

“The other stuff she does in the weight room, in the meetings … she leads the charge, and she leads loud.”

And because fast-rising junior Siobhan Rafferty will miss the season with a torn ACL she suffered in fall ball, Kennedy’s role could grow even more. With “fast track” freshmen in Charlotte Verhulst and Kira Accettella around her, Kennedy will have the chance to groom the next generation of Stony Brook stars during her final season.

“She has a look in her eyes when she’s competing that’s just different,” Spallina said.

Projected Starters

D – Haley Dillon – Jr. – 33 CT, 29 GB
D – Meghan Pickel – Fr. – (high school)
D – Courtney Troyan – Sr. – 2 GB, 1 DC
D – Sydney Gagnon – Sr. – 1 GB, 1 CT
M – Ally Kennedy – Sr. – 84 G, 124 DC
M – Charlotte Verhulst – Fr. – 35 G, 11 A (high school)
M – Rayna Sabella – Jr. – 19 G, 18 GB
M – Kira Accettella – Fr. – 28 G, 20 A (high school)
A – Taryn Ohlmiller – Sr. – 71 PTS, 51.4 SH%
A – Sara Moeller – Gr. – 27 A, 63.0 SH%
A – Bridget Considine – Jr. – 9 G, 10 A
GK – Kameron Halsall – R-So. – 117 SV, 41.8 SV% (at Rutgers)

Tewaaraton Watch
Ally Kennedy, M, Sr.

She was a Tewaaraton nominee last year and an IWLCA first team All-American. She’s fourth in program history in goals (171) and seventh in points (221), not to mention her 195 draw controls ranking third all-time. She scored at least three goals in 17 of 21 games last season, and her speed is second to none.

X Factor
Taryn Ohlmiller, A, Sr.

Talent has never been the question. But Ohlmiller missed five games last season and Stony Brook’s quarterfinal against Boston College in 2018, a game in which she was desperately needed. When healthy, Ohlmiller is a 100-point threat — a threshold she reached as a freshman and sophomore.

National Rankings

31

The number of Anna Tesoriero, the four-year starting goalkeeper who graduated, leaving a gaping hole to fill. Sophomore Gabrielle Cacciola made 11 saves in six games as a freshman, but redshirt-sophomore Kameron Halsall (a Rutgers transfer) could be the answer. She made 117 saves in 15 games for the Scarlet Knights but played behind an inferior defense.

Enemy Lines

“Everybody else kind of hates them. I have a really high level of respect for what Joe and his staff do over there. I think their buy-in is absolutely incredible.”

“They kind of have an attitude or a swagger about them. They are fighting for every single ball like it’s their last. I think they play extremely hard.”