University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Fall, 42-14, At Stony Brook In CAA Opener
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – When you’re the preseason league favorite and on the country’s top-ranked teams, you’re going to get everyone’s best shot.
That’s exactly what the University of Richmond football team dealt with in the Spiders’ CAA opener, dropping a tough, 42-14, decision to a feisty Stony Brook team in Long Island on Saturday afternoon.
"We got out-coached today, we got out-played today, we got out-hit today," head coach Danny Rocco said after the loss. "Today was not a good day for us but it was a real good day for Stony Brook and Coach Priore. This program earned a signature win here today."
Senior Brian Brown posted his 14th career game with 100-plus receiving yards, hauling in nine catches for 153 yards on the day. He is now just 71 yards away from becoming the program’s all-time leader in that category.
Junior Kyle Lauletta finished the day 21-of-35 for 342 yards, his sixth career 300-plus yard passing effort in 17 career starts.
Defensively, Brendan Coniker continued his strong start to his junior season, leading the team with eight tackles, while also picking up his first career interception.
Richmond got on the board first, putting together a four-play, 64-yard drive that was set up by a 44-yard completion from Lauletta to Brown and capped off with a 17-yard TD reception by Stephon Jacob, his first of the season.
Stony Brook would respond with back-to-back TD drives, the last coming on a 49-yard TD run by Stacey Bedell to give the Seawolves a 14-7 after the first quarter.
After SBU added another score to push the lead to 14, freshman Xavier Goodall capped off an eight-play, 69-yard drive with his first collegiate touchdown from six yards out go send the Spiders into the break down only one score, 21-14.
The Seawolves quickly made a statement in the second half, running the opening kick back 96 yards to grab a 28-14 lead.
Richmond would continue to drive into SBU territory, but were unable to put points on the board as the Seawolves continued to pound the ground, adding another TD to make it a 35-14 heading into the final quarter.
Stony Brook added one more score in the fourth and kept Richmond off the board to secure the victory.
"In the locker room afterwards I obviously shared my disappointment and my frustration," Rocco continued. "I've been really preaching to this group about how from week-to-week the jerseys and helmets of our opponents are going to change but their motivation is going to remain very high and we're going to get everybody's best shot. I feel like we got that today from Stony Brook."
Richmond returns home next weekend when they host top-25 ranked Colgate during Family & Friends weekend. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic.