Seahawks rebound with 48-6 win over Nor'easters

NEWPORT, R.I. (October 9, 2021) - Salve Regina University running back Joey Mauriello (Colts Neck, N.J.) ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns (2, 13) on 17 carries to lead his football team to a 48-6 win against the University of New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Toppa Field.

The Seahawks improve to 3-0 at home, 5-1 overall, and 1-1 in conference play. The Nor'easters suffer their first road loss (2-1) of the season while falling to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the CCC.

Salve Regina won the toss and elected to kick, and stopped University of New England on four plays and minus-1 yards in its first series. This came after Jack Mahoney (Hudson, N.H.) returned the opening kickoff 53 yards to the Seahawk 37 yard line. Mahoney took four consecutive handoffs from starting QB Connor Sirois (Buston, Maine), but after positive yards (4,5) on his first two carries, Alex Pitser (New Milford, Conn.) and Joe Vecchione (Chelmsford, Mass.) stopped him for no gain on back-to-back plays (3rd-and-1, 4th-and-1) to give Salve its first possession.

Jack Maguire (Abington, Mass.) completed his first pass to Pat Travers (Plymouth, Mass.) for 10 yards before Mauriello got the ball to midfield with his first rush. A pass to Nicholas Lane (Pembroke, Mass.) netted 44 yards and the Seahawks had 1st-and-goal. Mauriello found the endzone two plays later. Chris Maida (Red Bank, N.J.) made the first of his six PATs for a 7-0 lead on the first drive. He also added two field goals (36,34) to contribute 12 points to today's victory.

Series and Streaks
Salve Regina has won all three meetings with University of New England since the series began in 2018. The Seahawks have totalled 134 points in those three wins (33-10, 53-17, 48-6). Salve Regina extends its home win streak to five games.

Three Stars of the Game

1. Salve Regina senior running back Joey Mauriello (Colts Neck, N.J.) ran for 197 yards and two touchdowns (2, 13) on 17 carries (11.6 yards per carry); he also caught one pass for seven yards.
2. Salve Regina senior linebacker Dylan Budnik (Cranford, N.J.) had nine tackles (eight solo) including four for losses totaling 11 yards, two of those were sacks for minus-7 yards.
3. Salve Regina freshman placekicker Chris Maida (Red Bank, N.J.) made all six of his PATs and added two field goals over 30 yards each (36,34) for a dozen points.

Key Stat of the Game
The Seahawks outgained the Nor'easters in total offense (486 to 238 yards).

Turning Point
After a 41-3 setback to the Golden Bears last Saturday, the Seahawks rebounded quickly and withstood an opening kickoff return and excellent field position for the Nor'easters. Two straight stops for no gain on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 gave Salve Regina the ball at its own 28. They marched marched 72 yards in five plays for the opening score.

Quick Hits

• Only one turnover in the entire game - Michael Lemay (Wallingford, Conn.) picked off a Maguire misfire at his own 28.
• Pat Travers led all receivers with five catches for 58 yards and one touchdown.
• Jaymeson Maheux (Manchester, N.H.) gained 48 yards on 10 carries and scored the lone Nor'easter touchdown.
• Maguire spread his passes around to eight different Seahawk receivers, finishing with 12 completions on 20 attempts for 179 yards.
• Four different Nor'easters tossed the pigskin today - Connor Sirois (7-9, 59 yards), Matthew Harkins (8-13, 51 yards), Shane LaPorte (1-1, 8 yards), Jarrett Henault (1-2, 6 yards).
• Brian Johnson (New Milford, N.J.) had two punts totaling 87 yards (43.5 average) for the Seahawks.
• LaPorte also handled the punting duties for UNE with six totaling 166 yards (27.7 average).
• The Zack Attack - Zack Catarius (Sandwich, Mass.) led all players with 11 tackles (10 solo) including one sack.

Quotes
"Defensively, they (UNE) were stopping the run and we opened it up on them early and I think we caught them off guard. It's great when you can jump a team like that and keep going. We were worried if we were going to have a mental lapse (after last week's loss) and a confidence drain. Had that opening kickoff and they had a big return on it, and we're like, 'Uh, oh, we're still in the doldrums of it.'" - Salve Regina head coach Kevin Gilmartin

Next Up
Salve Regina (5-1, 1-1 CCC) plays at Nichols College next Saturday, October 16 at noon. The University of New England (3-2, 1-1) hosts Husson University in two weeks on October 23.