Posted: Apr 16, 2011

Viola's 5 goals give Seahawks win on Senior Day

Carin Heaney is one of two seniors on the 2011 squad

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - Senior Nicole Viola (Scarborough, Maine) scored five goals to propel the Salve Regina University women's lacrosse team to a 15-12 win over Nichols College in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) action Saturday afternoon at Gaudet Field.

Sophomore Kelly Burke (Georgetown, Mass.) scored four times for the Seahawks, who have won two-straight overall and eight in a row against Nichols. Junior Chelsea Shaughnessy (Halifax, Mass.) scored four times for the Bison, who slipped to 3-10 (2-7 TCCC).

Junior Sarah Livingston (Westboro, Mass.) tallied three goals while junior Hannah McAvoy (Saco, Maine.) and freshmen Grace Kelly (Auburn, N.Y.) and Kayla Sheehan (Pomfret, Conn.) each scored once for Salve Regina. Junior Krista-Jean Forand (Plymouth, Mass.) and freshman Toni Minelli (Newington, Conn.) each scored twice for the Bison.

The Seahawks built a 10-6 halftime lead behind four goals by Viola and two each from Burke and Livingston. Shaughnessy found the back of the net three times for Nichols while Forand scored twice. The Seahawks outshot the Bison 20-11 in the opening 30 minutes and converted eight of their nine clear attempts while holding Nichols to four-of-nine on clears (44 percent). Bison junior goalie Danielle Mott (Cranston, R.I.) recorded six saves to help keep her team in the game.

Salve Regina scored four of the first five goals to start the second half to grab a 14-7 lead 15 minutes in. Burke scored a pair to spark the run while Livingston and McAvoy each scored once. Trailing 15-8 following Viola's fifth of the game at 11:20 of the second half, Nichols closed the game with four-straight goals to bring the final tally to 15-12.

"We did what we needed to do today to get the win," said Seahawks head coach Jen Eldridge. "We will continue to build on this week's success as we finish out the regular season."

Salve Regina was outshot 19-18 in the second half and ended with a 38-30 edge in that category. Junior Natalie Balletta (Leominster, Mass.) made 12 saves to earn her seventh win of the season while Mott finished with 14 saves.

Sophomore Daniella Malconian (Belmont, Mass.) led SRU with four draw controls and tied with junior Mara-Lise Owen (Germantown, Md.) for the team-lead in ground balls with three. Shaughnessy won a game-high seven draw controls and freshman Julie Monroe (Whitman, Mass.) collected four ground balls for Nichols.

The Seahawks return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Gordon for a 4 p.m. contest. The Bison travel to Regis on Wednesday for a 3:30 p.m. game.