Villareal, Doherty reach milestones in Seahawks victory

SEAHAWK WOMEN'S LACROSSE RESULTS
Salve Regina 14, Eastern Connecticut State 11
Newport, Rhode Island - Toppa Field
Tuesday, February 25, 2020

Summary
MIDDLETOWN, R.I. - Salve Regina University women's lacrosse team opened the 2020 season with a 14-11 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University in non-conference action Tuesday evening.

Series and Streaks
The Seahawks still trail in the series 4-5 all-time.

Three Stars of the Game

1. Salve Regina junior Kaity Doherty (Portsmouth, R.I.) scored five time to lead all scorers. She crossed the 100-career point mark during the game; the 20th player to do so in program history.
2. Salve Regina senior Maddie Villareal (Portsmouth, R.I.) scored twice and now has 201 career points (150g, 51a), just the second player in program history to top the 200 career point mark. She is 24 points away from becoming the programs all-time leading scorer.
3. Eastern Connecticut junior Tristan Kijak (Windsor, Conn.) scored three goals, win 11 draws, caused four turnovers, and grabbed four ground balls.

Key Stat of the Game
The Seahawks held the Warriors to 5-of-14 on free position shots, 1-of-9 in the first half.

Turning Point
Salve Regina trailed by one at halftime, but wasted no time turning things around in the second half. Stephanie Szelest (Bristol, R.I.) scored 10 seconds into the half to tie the game 5-5 then 26 seconds later Maddie Villareal scored her first of the game to give the Seahawks the lead. The Warriors answered to tie the game again at 6-6, but a 5-1 run gave the Seahawks their largest lead with 14:10 to go. The Warriors battled back to draw within a goal when Mackenzie Shrewsbury (Sprague, Conn.) scored her second of the game to make it 12-11 with 2:36 to play. Maddie Villareal scored again forty seconds later to give the Seahawks some breathing room followed by Szelest to put a bow on the opening day win for Salve Regina.

Quick Hits

• Salve Regina sophomore Nicole Smith (North Attleboro, Mass.) scored four goals, won four draws, caused three turnovers, and collected a ground ball.
• Christina Myers (River Edge, N.J.) made 16 saves to improve to 1-0 in net for the Seahawks.
• Sarah Farag (Holmdel, N.J.) got the start in net for the Warriors and made six saves in a losing effort to fall to 0-1. Nicole Gaston (West Haven, Conn.) saw the final 14:10 of action and made three saves.
• The Warriors held a 37-26 edge in shots, but a narrower 27-23 edge in shots on goal.

Next Up
Salve Regina (1-0) hosts Simmons on Saturday, February 29. Eastern Connecticut State (0-1)