Salve Regina in CCC win column with 3-1 decision over University of New England
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
U. of New England (2-7-0, 0-3-0 CCC) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
Salve Regina (3-6-1, 1-2-0 CCC) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina's Richie Finizio (Fort Lee, N.J.) assisted on the game's first goal in the first four minutes, and added an insurance goal in the second half, to lead the men's soccer team to its first Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) victory of the season, 3-1, over visiting University of New England.
The Nor'easters (2-7-0, 0-3-0 CCC) drop their fourth straight while the Seahawks (3-6-1, 1-2-0 CCC) end a four-game losing skid. Two of those four defeats were overtime decisions at home.
In the game's fourth minute, Finizio received a pass in the middle just outside the box and crossed to his left for Matthew O'Donnell (Mars, Pa.) who one-touched to his right for Nolan Brady (Needham, Mass.). Brady also had one touch, a swing with his right leg that struck the ball by Nor'easter senior keeper Nate Diffin (York, Maine).
The Seahawks carried that one-goal margin into halftime.
O'Donnell continued his heads up play when he lofted a pass that a Nor'easter defender could not intercept with a header and it reached his Seahawk teammate, Kyle Knoth (East Islip, N.Y.). Knoth took two steps in on the right before rifling a crossing shot into the left corner of the goal at 53:51.
University of New England, which had been blanked in all six of its previous losses, scored its first goal in the last four games. Ryan Stephens (Stow, Mass.) kept a high bouncing ball in play on the sideline in front of the Seahawk bench before passing to Matthew Organ (Holtsville, N.Y.). Organ advanced down the sideline before sending his cross to the left side of the box. Jeremy Longchamp (Hudson, N.H.) was there to receive the pass, and had time to settle the ball before striking it past Salve Regina keeper Bryan McCormack (Narragansett, R.I.).
Finizio later finished a pass from Brady for an insurance tally. Finizio leads the Seahawks with five goals and five assists (15 points) on the season.
McCormack, who played less than 27 minutes as a freshman last year, made eight saves in his first collegiate victory. Diffin denied five Seahawk shots in the defeat.
Salve Regina plays its third of six straight home games on Wednesday when the Seahawks host Massachusetts Maritime Academy (3:30 p.m.). University of New England entertains Clark University on Wednesday.
