Posted: Apr 28, 2011

Seahawks return to Gordon for TCCC quarters

Chris Walker leads the Seahawks in goals and points

NEWPORT, R.I - The Salve Regina University men's lacrosse team has earned the No. 6 seed in the 2011 The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) championship and will travel to Wenham, Mass. for a quarterfinal match with No. 3 Gordon College on Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m.

The Seahawks finished the regular season 9-7 overall and 6-4 in the conference. Both Salve Regina and in-state rival Roger Williams finished with identical 6-4 conference marks, but the Hawks earned the No. 5 seed based on their 22-12 win over SRU in Middletown on April 6.

Gordon, meanwhile, posted an 8-7 overall record and a 7-3 mark in conference play. One of those three losses was a 13-10 setback at the hands of the Seahawks on April 20 in Wenham. In that contest, junior and reigning TCCC Offensive Player of the Year Chris Walker (Marshfield, Mass.) scored five goals while senior co-captain Evan Gates (Ridge, N.J.) tallied three goals and an assist for Salve Regina.

"It's nice to enter the playoffs on a three-game winning streak, and we're looking forward to competing for the championship one game at a time," said Salve Regina head coach Patrick Cooney following Wednesday's 13-9 win over the University of New England in the regular season finale for both schools.

The Seahawks offense is led by Walker, who notched team-high's in goals (47) and points (59). Gates, meanwhile, was tied with freshman Chad Hollenshade (Lutherville, Md.) for second in scoring with 49 points. Hollenshade netted 36 goals in his first season in Newport while Gates racked up a team-high 22 assists. Junior Brendan Carroll (Garden City, N.Y.) recorded 46 points (26-20-46) and senior co-captain Brendan Rooney (West Newton, Mass.) rounds out the top five for SRU with 41 points (23-18-41).

Defensively, freshman Curtis McKeon (West Haven, Conn.) won close to 60 percent of his face-offs this season (247-of-426, 58.0 percent) and collected a team-high 121 ground balls. Senior Blair Kelley (Lee, N.H.) collected 68 ground balls while classmate Maurie Fitzgerald (Lexington, Mass.) gathered 57. In goal, senior Brett Pimental (East Falmouth, Mass.) posted a 9-6 record in his first season as the starting netminder for Cooney. The two-sport athlete who also stars in ice hockey posted a 12.03 goals against average (GAA) and a .547 save percentage.

The Fighting Scots are led by senior Dan Utz (Rochester, N.Y.) and his 57 points (43-14-57). Junior Wes Chittick (Glenside, Pa.) and senior Zac Blue (Monticello, Minn.) each posted identical totals in goals (22), assists (seven), and points (29) to place second and third, respectively, followed by junior Adam Quinn (Gloucester, Mass.) with 22 points (15-7-22). Senior Stuart Knechtle (New Canaan, Conn.) collected a team-high 144 ground balls while sophomore Houston Zemanski (Annapolis, Md.) went 8-7 with a 9.07 GAA and a .560 save percentage between the pipes.

In other TCCC Quarterfinal action on Saturday, No. 1 Western New England hosts No. 8 Nichols at 7 p.m.; No. 2 Endicott entertains No. 7 University of New England at 11 a.m.; and No. 4 New England College welcomes No. 5 Roger Williams to Henniker, N.H. for a 1 p.m. contest.