Salve Regina gains revenge against Roger Williams, 4-3 in OT

Salve Regina gains revenge against Roger Williams, 4-3 in OT

BRISTOL, R.I. - Amber Cody (Pawling, N.Y.) scored her league-leading 14th goal to give Salve Regina University field hockey a 4-3 overtime victory Friday afternoon against Roger Williams University in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action.

Roger Williams held possession in their offensive half for most of the beginning of the first period. Yet despite the edge, the Seahawks still managed to tally the first score of the game. In the 15th minute, Brooke Tolley (Brookside, N.J.) stole an RWU pass and brought the ball all the way down the right side. She made her way into the box and crossed a pass to Lindsey Venuto (Foxboro, Mass.), who buried the shot in the right corner to give the Seahawks a 1-0 advantage.

Then in the 18th minute, Salve Regina doubled its lead, thanks to a goal off of a penalty corner. Amber Cody (Pawling, N.Y.) sent the corner to Tolley, who halted the ball dead in its tracks to serve up a shot for Erin Gendreau (Sandwich, Mass.). Gendreau put the ball in the left side of the goal for the two-goal Seahawk lead.

Roger Williams wasted little time getting that goal back, scoring less than 30 seconds later. Lillian McNeil (Marshfield, Mass.) gained possession in the scoring arc on a pass from Stephanie Yaeger (Gansevoort, N.Y.) and successfully buried a shot to the left side of the goal. McNeil's seventh score of the season helped bring RWU back within one. 

The Hawks grabbed the game-tying goal at the 43rd minute in the second half. McNeil and Yaeger connected again for the second time of the game to knot the contest at two. Yaeger brought the ball down the right side and made her way towards the goal. She would pass it back to McNeil, who would slide the shot just under the keeper's legs in the right corner, making it two-all.

In the 53rd minute, the Hawks were called for a foul in the circle, leading to a penalty stroke for Sarah Thompson (Clinton, Conn.).Thompson would put the shot right down the middle and put the Seahawks back on top by one.

The Hawks would once again respond in the 57th minute, with McNeil coming down the middle on a breakaway. She would give up the ball to Juliana Miccile (Upton, Mass.) just before she got taken out by the keeper. Miccile would convert the shot on the empty goal to tie the game back up at three.

The Hawks had a great opportunity to take the lead again in the 64h minute with the second penalty stroke of the day for RWU. Yaeger stepped up again for the Hawks and fired the shot, but Salve keeper Jessie Severino (Branford, Conn.) denied her with a jumping stick save to her right. That save would help push the game into overtime.

In the extra frame, Amber Cody (Pawling, N.Y.) logged the game winning with just under two minutes left in the first overtime. Thompson took the ball down the field by herself and found Cody in front of the goal for the tap-in and the win.

Severino tallied eight saves for Salve in the win, while Hawk keeper Mya Lunn (Marion, Mass.) also made eight saves.

On Wednesday, Roger Williams (2-9, 2-5 CCC) will host Nichols at 7 pm, while Salve Regina (7-5, 3-4 CCC) welcomes Johnson & Wales.