Second-half surge lifts Salve Regina on road

BRISTOL, R.I. - Alexandria Rizzo (Hopedale, Mass.) led a three-goal second-half surge to lift Salve Regina University field hockey over Roger Williams University, 3-0, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action on Wednesday.

Both teams struggled with getting a handle on passes sent their way in the midfield. Both defenses helped deter the movement of the ball downfield, with some of the struggles attributed to an inability to cleanly field the ball.

Open looks for the Hawks were hard to come by. The team looked poised to score in the 26th minute with Katherine Mahoney (West Suffield, Conn.) having her shot blocked close to the goal. Abby Treweek (Lakeville, Mass.) followed up with a shot of her own but saved by Salve keeper Murphy McCann (Westerly, R.I.). Just two minutes earlier, Sarah Link (Blossvale, N.Y.) had a potential goal denied by a heads-up defensive save by Rachel Nourse (Cazenovia, N.Y.).

Salve Regina had six shots in the first period but had a good look to score in its final attempt of the first half. The shot came off of a solid pass from Nourse to Lisa Bucci (Irvington, N.Y.), who had her shot sail wide left.

Ten minutes into the second half, Nourse tried sending a pass to the left side to an open Julia Grover (Cotuit, Mass.), but Grover could not get the stick on the ball as the pass sailed wide.

In the 48th minute, Bucci had a breakaway attempt, streaking down the field ahead of the Hawk defense and sent her pass to Alexisse Clinger (Foxboro, Mass.), but Clinger missed the pass and failed to get a shot up.

Salve Regina was able to capitalize on its near-misses in the 50th minute, with Grover knocking in a shot from the right side for the game's first score. Rizzo converted a penalty stroke less than a minute later for a quick 2-0 Salve lead.

Rizzo would add another score in the 56th minute to put the Seahawks up by three, knocking in a shot in a scramble for a loose ball in front of the goal.

McCann needed two saves for the Seahawks in the win, while Melora Lavoie (Poland, Maine) made a pair of stops as well in the loss.

Roger Williams will wrap up its inaugural varsity season on Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest against the University of New England, while Salve Regina will face Gordon on Saturday as well. The Seahawks will recognize their trio of seniors - Bucci, Heather Kapatoes (Hopedale, Mass.), and Jessica Whittier (Scituate, Mass.).