Nor'easters blow past Seahawks in overtime, 3-2

NEWPORT, R.I. - Junior Kristen Meza (San Diego, Calif.) scored her fifth goal of the season 4:42 into overtime to lift University of New England to a 3-2 win over Salve Regina University in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) action Tuesday afternoon at Reynolds Field.

Sophomore Katie Caron (Winslow, Maine) scored twice - including the game-tying goal at 74:34 - for the Nor'Easters (7-1, 4-1 TCCC), who ran their win streak to three games. Senior Jen Duval (Dudley, Mass.) and freshman Katie Birrell (Hope, R.I.) each scored for the Seahawks, who saw their six-game win streak snapped.

Trailing 2-1 followed Birrell's TCCC-leading 13th goal of the season at 70:24, Caron took a pass from senior Ali Trafton (Manchester, Maine) and fired a shot past senior goalkeeper Katie Vaudrain (Pawtucket, Mass.) to send the game to overtime. After a pair of Salve Regina scoring chances in the extra session, Meza took a shot in the box that deflected off a Seahawk and into the net at 94:42.

"This was a pretty evenly played contest," said Salve Regina head coach Kerri Scroope. "UNE is one of the best teams in our conference, and if this is the best the conference has to offer, then we are right there amongst the top teams. It was nice to win six and a row and we're sad to see it go, but the good news is that we're still in first place and we're going to keep battling."

Birrell nearly gave the Seahawks a 1-0 lead 15 minutes into the contest when she split the defense and chipped a shot towards the right corner that rang off the post. Less than 20 minutes later, Duval collected a rebound off a shot from sophomore Jordan Sileo (Bristol, Conn.) and poked the ball into an empty net for her sixth goal of the season at 34:58. The half ended with the Nor'Easters holding a 9-7 edge in shots but down a goal.

In the second half, Caron's first tally of the afternoon at 53:06 evened the score at one. She took a feed from Meza and beat Vaudrain with a shot inside the left corner. Birrell answered for the Seahawks at 70:24, working her way around a defender and firing a shot that trickled in off the hands of UNE senior keeper Leigh Engel (Richmondville, N.Y.) and into the net to give SRU a 2-1 lead.

The Nor'easters outshot the Seahawks 27-16 on the afternoon. Vaudrain finished the afternoon with seven saves while Engel turned aside three Salve Regina shots.

The Seahawks (7-3, 4-1 TCCC) return to action on Saturday when they travel to Springfield, Mass. for a 1:30 contest with Western New England. The Nor'Easters host Anna Maria Saturday at 1 p.m.