Week at a Glance: Seahawks • February 21-27, 2022

NEWPORT, R.I. (February 21, 2022) - Playoffs! And then, "Hello, Spring!"

Winter sports postseason action begins with all four Seahawk teams in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action either at home (Rodgers Recreation Center, St. George's) or on the road between Tuesday and Saturday. And then, Salve Regina men's lacrosse faces off at Western Connecticut State University (Saturday, 1 p.m.) to begin spring competition. Seahawk baseball hosts a doubleheader with the University of Southern Maine on Sunday (location and date moved since originally scheduled) at Bill Beck Field, a turf facility on the campus of the University of Rhode Island.

LET'S GO, SEAHAWKS!

TUESDAY (Feb. 22)
Salve Regina men's basketball (19-6, 14-4 CCC) earned the No. 2 seed and will host the higher seed team emerging from Monday's first-round matchups. No. 7 Gordon College defeated No. 10 Curry College, 80-64, finishing the first-round game on a 17-2 run. Salve Regina men's basketball and Gordon are meeting for the third time this season and 60th all-time. The Fighting Scots own a 37-22 mark in the series which includes a 93-70 victory last Saturday in Wenham. The Seahawks won the earlier meeting, 93-73, at the Rodgers Recreation Center. Gordon has won 11 of the last 14 meetings with Salve Regina. This is the fifth all-time meeting in CCC postseason. Let's pack the nest with tip off slated for 7 p.m.!

After finishing the regular season tied with Gordon College for fifth-place, Salve Regina women's basketball (10-14, 9-9 CCC) draws the No. 6 seed and travels to No. 3 Endicott College on Tuesday evening (7 p.m.). The last time the Seahawks were in Beverly, Mass., they trumped the Gulls, 76-69, on December 4, 2021. Salve Regina's string of success at the MacDonald Gymnasium includes wins in three of its last five trips to the Post Center. Ashley Rourke led all players with 20 points and nine rebounds in the most recent win while Morgan Shuey dished out five assists. Seahawks versus the Gulls in the postseason at MacDonald Gymnasium features an all-time highlight with the 2009 CCC Championship and Allegra Lovoy's three-quarter court shot just before halftime.

WEDNESDAY (Feb. 23)
While No. 6 Salve Regina women's ice hockey (5-15-3, 4-11-3 CCC) has a 20-7-3 all-time versus No. 3 Nichols College, the Bison have produced their seven wins in the last five years, going 7-2-2 in the last 11 meetings. Nichols took two of three meetings with Salve Regina this season, both at the June Rockwell Levy Rink. Salve Regina's last win against Ncihols came November 13, 2021 (2-1), at St. George's. The Seahawks had the same score in their last win on the Bison ice in the last game of the 2019-20 regular season (February 22, 2020).

THURSDAY (Feb. 24)
Both basketball teams will play a semifinal round on this day if they are successful on Tuesday; in the case of the second-seeded men's team, the Seahawks would host at 7 p.m. at the Rodgers Recreation Center. Fill the nest!

SATURDAY (Feb. 26)
Championship Saturday for basketball, semifinal Saturday for women's ice hockey, and quarterfinal Saturday for Salve Regina men's ice hockey (16-7-2, 14-5-2 CCC). The Seahawks earned the No. 3 seed and the right to host No. 6 Nichols College on Saturday at 8:15 p.m. at St. George's. Salve Regina scored five third-period goals including three in the first 2:05, two by senior John McLean, to breakaway with a 6-1 victory over visiting Nichols College on February 6, to sweep the three-game season series. The Bison got on the board first with a shorthanded goal from senior captain Curtis Carlson at 8:31 in the first period. Carlson scooped up a Seahawk turnover at center ice and skated ahead with a slip through the five-hole on netminder Nicholas Latinovich. Latinovich recovered to post 25 saves in his 60 minutes between the pipes. Salve Regina got the equalizer from senior captain George Sennott who deposited a rebound off an Ethan DeStefani rocket at 18:26 in the first. The teams skated 20 minutes in the middle period without scoring and brought a 1-1 score into the third. Anthony Azzano fed Tyler Carangelo from the defensive zone to center ice, and Carangelo moved the puck up to McLean who unloaded just inside the blue line on the right to break the deadlock, 29 seconds into the final period. Just 15 seconds later, Cayden Kraus cleaned up a shot by Sennott for a two goal lead. McLean made it a three-goal advantage as he took the loose puck after a face-off and drilled it past Korbinian Lutz (Munchen, Germany) at the 2:05 mark.

Salve Regina men's lacrosse (0-0, 0-0 CCC) has its 2022 opener on the road against Western Connecticut State University, in the first-ever meeting between the Colonials and Seahawks (1 p.m.). Head coach Patrick Cooney begins his 19th season at Salve Regina and returns a deep and experienced group for 2022. Pat Leary, the program's all-time leading goal scorer and three-time All-CCC performer, returns for a fifth season and will look to become the all-time points scorer as he leads the Seahawks this season. Leary was named a captain for the third consecutive year while teammates Ryan Chambers, Rich Gneiding, Ryan Reilly, and Brendan Treacy each earn their first captaincy. Chambers will assume the role of starting goalie this season after posting four starts in 2021. Fellow senior Gneiding and juniors Reilly and Treacy will help anchor a deep midfield group.

SUNDAY (Feb. 27)
Salve Regina baseball (0-0, 0-0 CCC) last met the University of Southern Maine in the 2021 NCAA Regional Championships last May in Hartford. Dominic Perachi retired the first nine batters he faced against nationally-ranked Huskies (#11 - https://d3baseball.com/top25/2021/2021Top25-week-14) while fellow lefties Brandon Grover and Sean O'Malley took care of things at the plate with three hits and two runs batted in apiece. Fourth-seeded Seahawks defeated top-seeded Huskies in the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships, 5-4, to stave off elimination in the Hartford Regional hosted by Trinity College at Murren Family Field in DiBenedetto Stadium. After a 2021 regular season featured just four schools (Curry, Roger Williams, Suffolk, Western New England) before the CCC postseason, Salve Regina added Salem State and Mitchell before advancing to its fourth NCAA Championships since 2016. Brandon Grover joins Dylan Ketch, Patrick Maybach, Dustin Siqueira, Tommy DelVecchio as team captains for 2022. The first twinbill for the season has moved from Saturday at Reynolds Field on the Seahawk campus to Sunday at Bill Beck Field on the Rhody campus (11 a.m.).