In below-freezing temperatures at DaSilva Memorial Field on Saturday afternoon, the St. John’s lacrosse team scored an impressive come-from-behind victory over Stony Brook for their first win of the season by a score of 13-8.

The Red Storm (1-1) trailed for much of this game, as they fell behind 3-0 after the first period of play and 6-4 at the half. But things played out much differently in the second half, as senior co-captain Stefan Diachenko led them to an overpowering finish.

After Stony Brook grabbed the first goal of the second half to take a 7-4 lead, junior Eric DeJohn scored unassisted for St. John’s as they would go on a 4-1 run to end the third quarter tied eight all.

St. John’s domination continued in the fourth, as they scored five straight goals en route to an easy 13-8 victory. The last quarter was all about Diachenko and DeJohn, as they would combine for all five St. John’s goals in the quarter.

Diachenko led the way for St. John’s with four goals, while DeJohn and freshman Jason DeBenedictis scored three and two, respectively. DeBenedictis and DeJohn would also combine for seven of the nine Red Storm assists in the game.

Sophomore goalkeeper Joseph Danaher saved 16 of the 24 shots that he faced on the afternoon to pick up his first victory of the season. Freshman Justin Corpolongo won 10 of 19 faceoffs for the Red Storm.

“I thought our guys hung in there today and just kept grinding,” St. John’s head coach Jason Miller told RedStormSports.com. “We didn’t get off to the best start but we kept fighting and finally got things to start going our way.”

The victory on Saturday would even the all-time series between St. John’s and Stony Brook at four wins apiece.

The Red Storm will next face a tough challenge, but a nice change in climate, in their next game on Saturday when they travel to Florida to play Jacksonville. This will be the first meeting between the two teams, and the first time that St. John’s will play a game in the Sunshine State.