Stony Brook Seawolves men's lacrosse
2012 season: Third NCAA Tournament appearance
#### 2012 season: Third NCAA Tournament appearance

Nagle's first season saw the graduation of 11 seniors, including [Kevin Crowley](/wiki/Kevin_Crowley "Kevin Crowley"), the first\-overall draft pick in the [2011 NLL Draft](/wiki/2011_NLL_season "2011 NLL season").[http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m\-lacros/spec\-rel/021712aaa.html](http://www.goseawolves.org/sports/m-lacros/spec-rel/021712aaa.html)  The inexperience showed early on as Stony Brook began the season 0–3, including a loss to \#1 Virginia. The Seawolves won their first game of the season at \#18 Delaware, a 7–6 nailbiter on the road and their first win over a ranked opponent since 2010\. The season continued to spiral downward as Stony Brook would embark on a four\-game losing streak, suffering home defeats to St. John's and Towson and road stumbles at Siena and Bryant (in 2OT).

At 1–7, the Seawolves' season looked bleak, but they won the first three conference matchups to build momentum before falling to \#20 Yale and Hartford, both one\-goal losses in overtime at home. Stony Brook defeated Albany in the regular season finale to head into the America East Tournament at 5–9\. Stony Brook squeaked past Hartford in the semifinals and trounced Albany in the championship game to clinch the team's third NCAA Tournament berth and second in the last three years, doing so in Nagle's first year as head coach. Nagle won America East Coach of the Year honors for his inaugural performance.

In the First Round of the [2012 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship](/wiki/2012_NCAA_Division_I_Men%27s_Lacrosse_Championship "2012 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship"), Stony Brook lost 19–9 to [Johns Hopkins](/wiki/Johns_Hopkins_Blue_Jays_men%27s_lacrosse "Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse") in Baltimore to end the season at 7–10\.


How does a coach's experience impact a team's performance?