Seahawks drop season finale on Senior Day

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – The Salve Regina University men's lacrosse team was defeated by the University of New England by a final score of 9-7 during Senior Day at Gaudet Field on Saturday evening. The loss drops the Seahawks to 1-6 on the season, while the Nor'easters improve to 9-7 overall.

Before the start of the game, Salve Regina University honored senior A.J. Albert (Franklin Park, N.J.) for all of his contributions to the SRU men's lacrosse program. Albert is a two-sport athlete, and was selected as a first team member of the 2011 Capital One Academic All-America® Division III Football Team.

Sophomore Chad Hollenshade (Lutherville, Md.) led the Seahawks with four goals on the evening, while fellow sophomore Curtis McKeon (West Haven, Conn.) compiled two goals, one assist, and a game-high 10 ground balls while winning 10-of-17 faceoff attempts. Freshmen Bryan Walsh (North Andover, Mass.) and Zach Alexander (Falmouth, Mass.) rounded-out the scoring for Salve Regina, each scoring one goal apiece.

Junior Tyler Thomas (Mount Pleasant, N.Y.) led all players with five points (4g, 1a) for the Nor'easters, while sophomore Nick Gross (Kennebunk, Maine) scored a pair of goals in the win. Sophomore Dan O'Gorman (Putnam Valley, N.Y.), freshman Shamus Higginbottom (New Milford, Conn.), and senior Dylan Thomas (Mount Pleasant, N.Y.) each dished-out a pair of assists, while senior Nate Porter (Cohasset, Mass.) made 12 saves on 17 shots to earn the victory in net for the Nor'easters.

McKeon gave the Seahawks an early 1-0 advantage, scoring the opening goal of the game just under four minutes into the first quarter.

Gross answered with an unassisted tally for UNE at 4:09, knotting the score at 1-all.

After Hollenshade gave the Seahawks the lead with the first goal of the second quarter, the Nor'easters ran-off four straight goals to close the half. Thomas led the run with two goals and an assist, including a man-up score with just 26 remaining on the clock to send UNE into the break leading 5-2.

Just 52 ticks into the second half, Higginbottom set up freshman Eddie Burke (Windsor, Conn.) to stretch the UNE advantage to 6-2.

The Seahawks responded with back-to-back goals from Alexander and Hollenshade to cut the Nor'easters lead down to 6-4.

UNE finished the third quarter with goals from Gross and Thomas to take an 8-4 lead heading into the final frame.

The Seahawks outscored the Nor'easters 3-1 in the fourth quarter, including two goals by Hollenshade, but eventually ran out of time, as UNE held on for the 9-7 victory.