Comerford, Pimental lead Seahawks past NEC, 10-8

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - Senior Ryan Comerford (Merrimack, N.H.) scored four goals to lead the Salve Regina University men's lacrosse team to a 10-8 win over The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) rival New England College on Senior Day Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale for both.

Junior Brett Pimental (East Falmouth, Mass.) made his first collegiate start in goal for the Seahawks and came up with 11 saves en route to victory. With the win, the Seahawks (9-7, 6-4 TCCC) have locked up the No. 5 seed in the upcoming tournament and will play at No. 4 Roger Williams on Saturday, May 1.

Senior Matt Vozzolo (Somers, Conn.) opened the scoring at 9:04 to give NEC (8-8, 6-4 TCCC) a 1-0 lead. The Seahawks responded with four-straight tallies to close the quarter, including two from Comerford, to grab a 4-1 lead. Vozzolo and junior John Gabriel (West Nyack, N.Y.) scored for the Pilgrims in the second while fellow junior Evan Gates (Ridge, N.J.) potted his 20th of the season for SRU to make it a 5-3 game at halftime. The Seahawks held a 23-12 edge in shots at the break.

In the second half, New England College evened the score at five on goals by Gabriel and senior Clint McDonough (Mountain Lakes, N.J.). Comerford answered with his 12th of the season to put SRU in front 6-5 only to see sophomore Sam Freihofner (Scarsdale, N.J.) even the score at six at 10:55 of the third. Gates responded with his 21st of the season with 9:18 to go in the third to put SRU in front for good. Comerford netted his fourth goal of the afternoon in the fourth, and junior Brendan Rooney (West Newton, Mass.) and sophomore Brendan Carroll (Garden City, N.Y.) also found the back of the net in the final stanza for the Seahawks. The Seahawks finished outshooting the Pilgrims 44-34.

"That was an outstanding win," said Salve Regina head coach Patrick Cooney. "Congratulations to all of our seniors. All of them started and contributed throughout the game. Our junior goalie, Brett Pimental, stepped in and played an outstanding game, esp. in the first half."

Gates (2-1-3) and Rooney (1-2-3) each finished the game with three points while Carroll racked up a goal and an assist. Graduate student Nick Clark (Rye, N.H.) led the team with five ground balls, and classmate Cody LaFerriere (Brookside, N.J.) won eight of nine faceoffs. For the Pilgrims, Gabriel and Vozzolo each scored twice while McDonough and junior Matt Carey (Medford, N.Y.) each tallied once. Senior Nick Fischer (South Burlington, Vt.) finished with 13 saves.

The Pilgrims will be the No. 6 seed in the conference tournament, which begins May 1.