Salve Regina def. Anna Maria, 4-3; Seahawks advance to championship

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Alexisse Clinger scored her eighth goal of the season in the fourth minute and Salve Regina led for the remainder of the match as the second-seeded Seahawks closed out a 4-3 victory over third seed Anna Maria in the ECAC New England field hockey tournament hosted by Smith College.

Salve Regina improves to 17-4 with the victory while Anna Maria ends the year at 13-8.

Clinger finished a Lindsey Mazzola pass at the back post at the 3:09 mark to open the scoring, and Marissa Gagnon was the recipient of a second Mazzola helper to double the advantage at 11:02. Gagnon received a feed in front of Anna Maria goalkeeper Mary Kate Breen and rolled to the middle before pulling back to her reverse side and flipping her 19th goal of the season into the back of the cage.

After falling behind 1-0, the AMCATS nearly drew level seconds later on a foray into the attacking end off of the restart. Kayla Lapierre's shot beat Jessie Severino in the Salve Regina goal, but Alyssa Perkalis was on the goal line to steer the ball away.

Anna Maria halved the deficit in the 18th minute when Kylie Dalbec finished a loose ball below the stroke mark with a reverse finish. Less than two minutes later, Dalbec again found space in the circle, but thundered a one-time volley of a bouncing ball just wide of the right post.

In the waning seconds of the first half, Salve Regina restored the two goal advantage as Clinger and Gagnon combined in the attacking circle. Gagnon drove a cross front the right side of the circle and Clinger was alone at the back post and composed with her finish with only :24 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.

The Seahawks extended the lead in the opening minute after halftime as Abigail Tepper scored her team-leading 29th goal of the season. Tepper, who entered the ECAC Tournament fourth in Division III averaging 1.4 goals per game, finished an extended sequence of Salve Regina pressure in the Anna Maria circle by pulling a rebound off of the pads of Breen and slotting home her team's fourth goal of the afternoon.

But the AMCATS were undeterred, battling back with goals in the 41st and 55th minutes. After Severino blocked a bouncing ball from the left side of the circle, Nicole Denver slammed home the loose ball with authority from six yards out.

Trailing 4-2, Dalbec was sent down the left sideline on a through ball, and she cut along the baseline into the circle before delivering a reverse-hit cross to the right post. Kayla Lapierre was alone to finish and pull the AMCATS within one.

But Lapierre's goal capped the scoring as Dalbec's bid for a game-tying reverse struck iron, and the Salve Regina defense held Anna Maria without a shot on a penalty corner in the final minute to see out the victory.

The Seahawks will meet top-seeded Smith in the ECAC New England final on Sunday. Play is scheduled for 1 p.m.