Seahawks dominate to open 2013

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – The Salve Regina field hockey team earned a decisive win to open the 2013 season against Wheelock, Saturday afternoon. The Seahawks shutout the visiting Wildcats 11-0, led by senior Heather Kapatoes' (Hopedale, Mass.) first career hat trick.

It took just over 13 minutes for the Seahawks to find the back of the cage, but once sophomore Julia Grover (Cotuit, Mass.) got a rebound pass from sophomore Alexisse Clinger (Nantucket, Mass.) and tapped it past the Wildcat goalie, senior Michelle Greene (Mansfield, Mass.), the gates opened for Salve Regina.

A pair of penalty shots from junior Alexandria Rizzo (Hopedale, Mass.) and sophomore Allison Gold (Greenlawn, N.Y.) put the Seahawks up 3-0 with just under 10 minutes to play in the opening half.

Interim head coach Tia Pydynkowski's half time speech lit a fire in the Seahawk offense as Salve Regina rattled off eight goals in the final 35 minutes of action. Kapatoes wasted little time into the second half as she scored her first goal of the game 26 seconds after the opening whistle.  Senior Lisa Bucci (Irvington, N.Y.) put the hosts up 5-0 before Kapatoes rounded out her hat trick with back-to-back goals to push the Seahawk lead to 7-0. Four different Seahawks scored in the final 12 minutes of action to give Salve Regina an 11-0 win to open the year.

Shadowed by the prolific scoring was the strong defensive play for Salve Regina. The Seahawks back line not only did not allow a goal in the 70 minutes of action, but did now allow the Wildcat offense to get off a shot in the contest.

Salve Regina out-shot Wheelock 36-0 and held the advantage in corners, 15-0. Greene made 13 stops in the cage for the Wildcats.

Wheelock returns to the turf when the Wildcats host Western Connecticut State on Sept. 1 at 3 p.m. while the Seahawks travel to Worcester St. on Sept. 7 to build on their opening day victory.