Seniors centerstage in Seahawk victory

NEWPORT, R.I. - After celebrating 11 seniors with a pre-game ceremony, Salve Regina University men's soccer rallied from a one-goal deficit to score a 3-1 victory over visiting Eastern Nazarene College in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Reynolds Field.

Four different seniors, and sophomore Evan Dudney (North Andover, Mass.), contributed to the Seahawk scoring efforts as Salve Regina improved to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the conference. The Lions lost their second straight CCC contest and fell to 4-3 overall.

After controlling play early, the Seahawks found themselves trailing when sophomore Jacob Mason (Southport, England), a midfielder who attending high school in nearby Middletown (R.I.), unloaded a 35-yard blast with an assist from senior Scott Hansen (Middletown Springs, Vt.). It was Mason's fourth goal of the year.

The visitors held the 1-0 edge for nearly 20 minutes until senior Issa Demirgioglu (Smithfield, R.I.) scored his second goal of the season, an even deeper blast than Mason's after classmate Kyle Knoth (East Islip, N.Y.) passed to his captain in open territory 40 yards out.

Nearly eight minutes later, Dudney served up a corner kick to the near post and Knoth headed in his first goal of 2014 for the eventual game-winner. Salve Regina went into the break up 2-1.

Senior Alex Wasilewski (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) got a through pass from classmate Zachary Kraft (Tenafly, N.J.) in the 61st minute and made the final score 3-1 with his strike to the lower right side.

Junior Daniel Stern (King's Park, N.Y.) logged 90 minutes in net for the Seahawks and finished with two saves. Senior Jake Johnson (Mount Bethel, Pa.) made six stops for the Lions.

Salve Regina hits the road for its next two contests against technology schools - Wednesday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (alma mater of head coach Craig O'Rourke II) and Saturday at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Eastern Nazarene has its next two games in Quincy including a CCC contest next Saturday with University of New England.

Salve Regina seniors - Zak Bissell (Allendale, N.J.), Nicholas Carbone (Quincy, Mass.), Demirgioglu, Knoth, Kraft, Kyle Kureczka (Berlin, Conn.), Enrique Lecaros (Paterson, N.J.), Devin L'Heureux (Litchfield, N.H.), Alec Shuman (Pompton Plains, N.J.), Wasilewski, and Jake Weinshank (Chapel Hill, N.C.).