Trio of seniors score in final game as a Seahawk

DARTMOUTH, Mass. – A game-high seven goals from the stick of senior Colleen Kane (Arlington, Mass.) lifted UMass Dartmouth to its highest regular-season win total since 2008 on Wednesday, as the Corsairs rose to 8-7 overall with a 15-10 win over Salve Regina University at Cressy Field.

UMass Dartmouth caps the regular season with the most victories since the program went 9-6 in the 2008 season. The Corsairs' next contest will be held next Tuesday in the opening round of the 2016 Little East Conference Tournament.

Three seniors, Abigail Tepper (Foxboro, Mass.), Katherine Miele (North Reading, Mass.), and Morgan McNulty (Durham, Conn.) all scored in their final collegiate game.

Tepper, Miele, and  Katie Kline (Brookfield, Conn.) each potted a pair of goals apiece, with Tepper filling out her line with two assists.

Kane tacked on an assist to go along with her scores, while teammate Leah Douty (Framingham, Mass.) tacked on two goals and two assists with a game-high six draw controls. Sophomore Erin Kish (Littleton, Mass.) tabulated two goals, while junior Catrina Longo (Billerica, Mass.) posted a score and two helpers.

Kane was hot early, scoring three of the Corsairs' first four in the course of three minutes. Junior Kathryn Gibb (Georgetown, Mass.) potted her fifth goal of the year for UMass Dartmouth's second on the night.

Salve Regina finally got on the board at 12:14, when Kline put away a free position shot. Moments later, Tepper netted her first of the night to cut the lead in half. Kish put the hosts up three, but the Seahawks tabulated the next three goals to tie the score at five at 17:37.

UMass Dartmouth fended off the small rally with three-straight scores of its own to rebuild the lead. Kane broke the tie at 24:23, followed by goals by Julia DiPillo (Medway, Mass.) and Longo. Kline then put in the last tally of the half for an 8-6 Corsair advantage at the break. 

Back-to-back Douty goals began the final stanza, and Kish scored on a Kane assist to give the hosts their largest lead of the night. Salve Regina broke up the streak with a Brianna Wilcox(Somers, Conn.) goal, but UMass Dartmouth again fired off three-straight including two more from Kane to effectively put the game out of reach with 10 minutes remaining.  The Seahawks did bury the final two goals of the night to bring the final deficit to five.

Seahawk senior goalkeeper Katie Jones (Derry, N.H.) made 11 stops on the evening including seven on the second half in the loss. On the opposite end, freshman Kaitlyn Burchill (Bridgewater, Mass.) needed to make just six saves in the victory. 

The Corsairs (3-3 LEC) play the waiting game until Saturday, when its LEC seeding fate will be determined with the outcome of the contest between Plymouth State and Western Connecticut. Salve Regina closes the season, finishing at 4-11 overall with a 2-6 Commonwealth Coast Conference slate.