Malenczak, Tepper combine for nine as Seahawks win

Karley Malenczak scored five goals and assisted on two others in Salve Regina's first conference win of 2014.
Karley Malenczak scored five goals and assisted on two others in Salve Regina's first conference win of 2014.

BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Karley Malenczak (Sayville, N.Y.) scored five goals and assisted on two others and sophomore Abigail Tepper (Foxboro, Mass.) had four goals and five assists as the Salve Regina University women's lacrosse team snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 16-10 win over Wentworth in Commonwealth Coast Conference women's lacrosse action on Sweeney Field.

With the win the Seahawks improve to 4-11 overall and 1-7 in league play while the Leopards fall to 3-10, 0-7.

Malenczak got the visitors on the board just 19 seconds into the contest and Tepper made it a 2-0 game with a goal with 22:28 left.

Wentworth made it a 2-1 game on freshman Brandie Holland's (Lynn, Mass.) goal with 20:22 left before Malenczak scored 28 seconds later to make it a two-goal contest. However, the Leopards scored the next two as juniors Jessica Houghton (Billerica, Mass.) and Beverly Farris (Palmer, Mass.) scored 44 seconds apart.

Tepper scored the Seahawks' next two goals before Wentworth knotted the game at 5-all with goals from Holland and sophomore Pam Mudge (Hooksett, N.H.). However, Salve Regina took a 6-5 lead on a Malenczak goal with 7:34 left and added to its lead with 4:37 left on a freshman Jacqueline Pilatti (South Windsor, Conn.) goal. Mudge closed out the half with a goal with 1:44 left.

Senior Kayla Sheehan (Pomfret, Conn.) pushed the lead to 8-6 with a goal 39 seconds into the second half before the Leopards scored three straight – with two coming from Mudge and one from Houghton – to take a 9-8 lead with 20:39 remaining.

Tepper knotted the score at 9-all with 17:46 and began a stretch of six straight Salve Regina goals with freshman Kaitlin Gillespie's (Haddam, Conn.) marker with 5:31 left making it a 14-9 game. Mudge would score her fifth of the contest to make it 14-10 with 4:01 left before sophomore Katherine Miele (North Reading, Mass.) and Gillespie rounded out the scoring.

Gillespie and Sheehan scored two goals each while Miele had a goal and an assist to complete the multiple-point scorers for the Seahawks. Pilatti and Sheehan each won four draw controls, while freshman Amanda Lachat (South Hadley, Mass.) had six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Senior Josephine O'Reilly (Middletown, R.I.) made six saves.

Mudge scored five goals, Houghton had two goals and two assists, and Holland netted a pair of goals. Houghton also won three draw controls. Senior Decia Splaine (West Newbury, Mass.) had four ground balls and caused four turnovers, while Farris also collected four ground balls. Junior Robyn Pacini (Stoneham, Mass.) made 15 saves.

Salve Regina is idle until April 23 when the Seahawks host Wheelock while Wentworth is at Fitchburg State on Monday night.