Seahawks complete unbeaten regular season with shutout of Bison

SEAHAWK MEN'S SOCCER RESULTS
Salve Regina 4, Nichols 0
Toppa Field - Newport, R.I.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Summary
NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University men's soccer team wrapped up an unbeaten regular season with a 4-0 shutout of visiting Nichols College in the final Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) match of the year.

Series and Streaks
Salve Regina owns a 20-8-2 record in the all-time series and has won two in a row over Nichols.

Three Stars of the Game

1. Salve Regina sophomore Jacob Guerra (Colchester, Conn.) scored twice in the span of 10 minutes to give the Seahawks a 2-0 and 3-0 lead in the first half.
2. Salve Regina senior Nathaniel Crocker (Hallowell, Maine) scored his first of the season to start the scoring for the Seahawks in the sixth minute.
3. Nichols senior Patrick Porpora (Westminister, Mass.) made a season-high 18 saves in the loss to fall to 7-6-1 between the pipes for the Seahawks.

Turning Point
The Bison's first shot of the game didn't come until the 37th minute with the Seahawks already holding a 2-0 lead. That shot was saved by Seahawks keeper Michael Payan (Fort Lee, N.J.) and a rebound chance was fired into the back of the net by James Chasco-Dimauro (Rocky Hill, Conn.), however he was called offside at the last second to disallow the goal. Shortly afterwards Jacob Guerra tallied his second goal of the game to push the Seahawks to a 3-0 lead. 

Key Stat of the Game
Salve Regina outshot the Bison 37-5 and 25-4 in shots on goal.

Quick Hits

• Michael Payan started his 17th match of the season and made four saves to earn his ninth shutout to improve to 15-0-2 in net for the Seahawks.
• Owen Stevenson (Middletown, Conn.) rounded out the Seahawks scoring in the 52nd notching his 12th goal of the season.
• Salve Regina finishes the regular season leading the CCC in goals (59), assists (54), corner kicks (119), and fewest goals allowed (15).

Quote
"It's a great team result for us today.  We talked about not losing our focus nor getting ahead of ourselves this week in that we had already locked up our seed for the conference tournament and the outcome of this match was not going to impact or alter that.  We did not want to start looking past this game and thinking about the conference tournament on the weekend.  And as our program, we wanted to keep our momentum and finish out the regular season without a loss... so this result is a statement to the caliber of soccer that we have been able to produce this season.  I thought, overall, several of our guys were focused and dialed in today.  We wanted to play on the front foot and the early goal from Crocker that Woods set-up really allowed us to settle in and do that.  Medeiros, Julian, and Kelly were all excellent for us on the backline today.  And what can you say about Guerra - he was just nothing short of exceptional today.  Those two finishes were exquisite technique.  And the best part for us is that his best soccer is still ahead of him!" - head coach Craig O'Rourke II

Next Up
Salve Regina (15-0-3; 6-0-2 CCC) will host Nichols (10-6-1, 2-5-1 CCC) on Saturday, October 27, in the quarterfinal round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) playoffs.