Great Danes Stage Late Comeback to Draw with Stony Brook
ALBANY, N.Y. — For 79 minutes, UAlbany chased shadows and the scoreboard. In 11 frantic minutes, the Great Danes ripped the game away from defeat.
Down 2-0 to unbeaten Stony Brook on Wednesday afternoon at Tom & Mary Casey Stadium, UAlbany’s women’s soccer team staged a furious late surge to secure a 2-2 draw, turning what looked like a routine road win for the Seawolves into a statement of resilience for the home side.
Wave After Wave
The intent was clear from the opening whistle.
In the 5th minute, Sydney Kofton cracked the first warning shot of the day for UAlbany. It set the tone. The Great Danes pressed high, swarmed second balls, and kept Stony Brook penned back for long stretches of the first half.
Goalkeeper Claudia Volino was called into action in the 24th minute, making her first save to keep the game level. A minute later, the visitors almost silenced the stadium. A strike from Maya Corbett smashed off the post and bounced out, a sharp reminder of how thin the margins would be.
UAlbany responded with volume. Six more shots flew toward the Stony Brook goal before halftime, but none broke through. The Great Danes carried the play, not the lead, into the break. Nil-nil, and all that pressure still searching for a payoff.
Stony Brook Strikes First
The punishment for missed chances arrived after halftime.
In the 56th minute, Stony Brook finally broke the stalemate, finishing off a move that put them 1-0 up and briefly stunned the home crowd. UAlbany, despite the shot advantage, suddenly trailed.
The Seawolves then twisted the knife.
In the 71st minute, they doubled the lead, pushing the score to 2-0 and threatening to turn UAlbany’s afternoon into a harsh lesson in efficiency. Two chances taken, two goals. The Great Danes, by contrast, had nothing to show on the scoreboard for their dominance.
Blannett Lights the Spark
The response was emphatic.
With time draining away, UAlbany refused to fold. The breakthrough came in the 80th minute, when Meredith Blannett finally found the finish her performance deserved. Her first goal of the year cut the deficit to 2-1 and jolted life back into the stadium.
Blannett had been busy all afternoon, firing six shots as she constantly probed the Stony Brook back line. This time, she made it count. The game flipped. The Seawolves, so comfortable at 2-0, suddenly had to ride out a storm.
Levac Completes the Comeback
The pressure only built from there.
Seven minutes after Blannett’s goal, the equalizer arrived. In the 87th minute, Kiara Levac pounced, slotting home to make it 2-2 and complete the comeback. Levac, who finished with four shots, had been lurking all game; when the chance came, she buried it.
Tom & Mary Casey Stadium erupted. From two goals down to level in less than 10 minutes, UAlbany had turned a likely loss into a game they now looked capable of winning.
Kofton remained at the heart of everything. She led the Great Danes with a relentless 11 shots, eight of them headers, five of them on target. Stony Brook never truly solved her aerial presence, and she kept the Seawolves under siege until the final whistle.
One Last Chance
UAlbany refused to settle.
In the closing seconds, the Great Danes earned a corner, one final chance to complete a remarkable turnaround. Bodies crowded the box, the delivery swung in, but the decisive touch never came. Stony Brook survived the last scramble, and the match closed at 2-2.
The stats told the story of UAlbany’s aggression: a 30-16 edge in shots, with 11 on goal to Stony Brook’s four. The Seawolves left with their unbeaten record intact. The Great Danes left with proof they can punch back when the game seems gone.
What Comes Next
The draw moves UAlbany to 2-4-1 on the season, still searching for consistency but now armed with a comeback that can anchor belief. Stony Brook, at 3-0-4, remains undefeated, though this one will feel like a missed opportunity after leading by two with under 20 minutes to play.
Next up, UAlbany heads on the road to Orono, Maine, for a Sunday matchup with the Black Bears at Alumni Field, kickoff set for 12:00 p.m.
If they carry the fight they showed in those final 10 minutes, how many more points will they rescue before this season is done?
