Seahawks upend Hawks, 3-0; defeat in-state rival for first time since 2004
BRISTOL, R.I. - Salve Regina University remained undefeated in The Commonwealth Coast Conference with a 3-0 victory over the Roger Williams University men's soccer team Wednesday afternoon.
The win improves the Seahawks to 3-0 in the conference and snaps a seven-game losing streak to Roger Williams, dating back to 2004.
In the 13th minute, Roger Williams was called for a foul in the box, leading to a penalty kick for Salve Regina. Junior Nicodemo Camarda (Burlington, N.J.) fired away, but a beautiful diving save by Peter Plate (Commack, N.Y.) negated the scoring opportunity for the Seahawks. Plate's save eventually trickled out of bounds, leading to a corner kick.
On the ensuing corner, the Hawks were whistled for a hand ball in the box, leading to another Salve Regina penalty kick. This time, junior Sean McAllister (North Arlington, N.J.) was able to convert the try, giving the Seahawks a 1-0 lead.
The one-goal advantage held up for the Seahawks over the remainder of the half before they added to their lead early in the second period. Three minutes into the half, McAllister fired a shot on goal, on which Plate made a diving save. Despite his efforts, Camarda took advantage of the loose ball and scored the second goal of the day for SRU. McAllister would later notch his second goal and fifth point of the day at the 81:56 mark, firing on a long shot outside the right edge of the box off of a pass from senior tri-captain Ken Johnson (Colonia, N.J.).
Sophomore Devin O'Gorman (Canton, Mass.) earned the shutout for the Seahawks, making nine save on the day. For the Hawks, Plate made two stops in 80 minutes of action, while Jon Pelloso (Wilbraham, Mass.) spent the final 10 minutes of the game in goal for RWU, allowing one score.
"This is a very big win for us," said Salve Regina head coach Craig O'Rourke II. "None of our current players, not even the seniors, have ever beaten our in-state and conference rivals. There is great deal of satisfaction for all of us in the program to finally be able to overcome this hurdle and get the victory against them. But, I still think that Roger Williams is a very good side that will finish in the top eight and make the conference tournament. Today we were the more dangerous team and McAllister was once again excellent for us as he had a hand in all three of our goals. I'm very happy for my team and for my seniors to earn this victory."
Roger Williams (1-6-1. 1-1-1 TCCC) will host Colby-Sawyer College Saturday at 3:30 p.m., while Salve Regina (5-2-0, 3-0-0 TCCC) puts its five-game winning streak on the line against Regis College at home on Saturday at noon.
Courtesy of Roger Williams sports information