Most wins ever, and now a home playoff game

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - Salve Regina University senior Curtis McKeon (West Haven, Conn.) led all players with five goals in a 14-7 non-league men's lacrosse game against Mitchell College at Gaudet Field. It was Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action elsewhere that excited the Seahawks (12-4; 4-4 CCC) as they discovered not only did they have the most wins in a single season in program history, but Salve Regina will also host a conference playoff match on Saturday as the No. 4 seed.

CCC tiebreaking procedures were used to determine the fourth, fifth and sixth seeds in the tournament, as Salve Regina, Wentworth and Gordon all posted identical 4-4 conference records.  In the first step, head-to-head play among the three tied teams was compared. All three teams posted 1-1 records.

In the second step, records against other CCC teams were examined starting at the top of the standings and working down.  All three tied teams posted identical records against the other six CCC teams.

While the third step, common non-conference opponents, yielded no opponents common to all three, the fourth step, records against teams with a winning percentage of .500 or greater, resulted in Salve Regina claiming the fourth seed by virtue of a 4-4 record (.500), compared to Gordon (2-5, .286) and Wentworth (3-8, .273).

Wentworth and Gordon was subsequently treated as a new tie and returned to the top of the tiebreaking procedure.  The Leopards claimed the fifth seed by virtue of a 15-12 win over the Fighting Scots on April 12.

Salve Regina's victory over Mitchell (8-7) had no impact on the tiebreak as even a 3-5 mark (.375) bested the other two.

The Mariners scored first as sophomore attack Dan DiGioia (Glen Ridge, N.J.) found the net unassisted at 13:32 in the opening period. McKeon won the ensuing face-off and netted the equalizer 15 seconds later. Classmate Chad Hollenshade (Lutherville, Md.) scored the next two goals, the first after intercepting a Mitchell pass to its own goalie.

Sharp Jones (Scituate, Mass.) had single goals in three of four periods, none in the second. Jordan Cook (Groton, Conn.) closed out the first-period scoring with five seconds remaining. The first five minutes of the second period were scoreless until Cam Brazill (Ridgewood, N.J.) netted his fifth of the season for a 5-2 Seahawk lead.

After two more goals from McKeon gave Salve Regina a five-goal edge (7-2), David Klapp (Greenfield, N.Y.) made it a 7-4 score with two goals in the final two minutes of the first half.

McKeon had two more in the third period as the Seahawks outscored the visitors, three to two, to lead 10-6 heading into the final period.

Alex King (Andover, Mass.) and James Fee (Massapequa, N.Y.) joined Hollenshade and Jones with goals in the fourth for the Seahawks. Klapp finished with four of the Mariners' seven goals.

Andrew Watkins (Natick, Mass.) made seven saves for his 12th victory as Seahawk goalie.

Salve Regina will host a CCC men's lacrosse playoff game for the third time in its history. In 2006, the third-seeded Seahawks defeated sixth-seeded Curry College, 11-2, and the following year fourth-seeded Salve Regina won 14-3 against fifth-seeded Wentworth. The Seahawks and Leopards will face-off at 1 p.m. at Gaudet Field on Saturday. Hollenshade's overtime goal on April 15 in Boston lifted the Seahawks over the Leopards, 13-12, in this year's regular-season meeting.