Seahawks lose home opener by 1

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – The Salve Regina football team is now 1-1 on the season after dropping their home opener by a score of 7-6 to Montclair State.

For the second straight season the Red Hawks defeat the Seahawks by a single point. Last season it was a failed two-point conversion that resulted in a one point loss. This time a missed point-after field goal in the second quarter ended up being the difference in the game.

Salve Regina drew first blood with a seven play, 74-yard drive that ended in a Steven Wilken (Ringwood, N.J.) touchdown pass to Matthew Traynor (Secaucus, N.J.) to open the second quarter. The Seahawks would miss the PAT however leaving them with only a 6-0 advantage.

The Seahawks persevered the shutout into the late stages of the third quarter, thanks to some stingy defense.  The Seahawks forced the Red Hawks to punt six times, miss a field goal, and forced a fumble before finally giving up a score.

Red Hawks quarterback Ryan Davies (Lanoka Harbor, N.J.) connected with Devon Levesque (Hanover, N.H.) on a 31-yard touchdown pass with 3:56 left in the third quarter to give the visitors the lead after the PAT.

Salve Regina never threatened to score again as they only ran four plays in Montclair St. territory in the entirety of the second half. Those four plays were three straight incompletions and an interception.

The interception and return by C.J. Conway (Folsom, N.J.) set up the Red Hawks inside the Salve Regina 30 yard line, with a chance to extend their lead. However the defense stood tall again and forced a field goal that Alex Hennessy (West Babylon, N.Y.) blocked, keeping it a one-point game.

The Seahawks would turn it over again though on pass from Wilken intended for sophomore running back Sam Pascale (Chesire, Conn.). The pass hit Pascale in the pads and bounced straight into Michael Kilmek's (Cranford, N.J.) arms.

The teams then exchanged punts until the Red Hawks could run out the clock on quarterback kneels.

After the game, head coach Kevin Gilmartin expressed that his team was upset with the loss, but that nothing has changed for them.

"These first three games of the season, they are out of conference," said Gilmartin, "and that's our goal, to win the conference, so nothing has changed."

Gilmartin added that he was pleased with the effort and results he got from his defense, limiting the dynamic Denzel Nieves (South Orange, N.J.) to 19 yards on 21 carries, and only allowing seven points.

Salve Regina will travel to play William Paterson, another tough non-conference opponent on September 20, before visiting MIT on September 27 for the beginning of NEFC play, and to use Gilmartin's own words, "when it counts."