BOSTON, Mass. – Senior midfielder Evan Gates (Ridge, N.J.) tallied five goals while freshman attackman Chad Hollenshade (Lutherville, Md.) and senior attackman Brendan Rooney (West Newton, Mass.) each had four goals and two assists as the Salve Regina men's lacrosse team downed Wentworth, 19-5, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference contest at Sweeney Field.
Rooney gave the Seahawks and early, 2-0 lead by scoring two goals in an eight-second span before Gates upped the lead to 3-0 with Gates' first marker of the evening. A pair of senior attackman Chris Guilherme (Derry, N.H.) goals cut the lead to 3-2 with 7:18 left before Hollenshade made it a 4-2 game with 6:51 to play in the quarter. Rooney fed senior midfielder Sam Barnum (Holderness, N.H.) with 4:55 left to increase the lead to 5-3 before freshman attackman Jeff Guilherme (Derry, N.H.) made it a 5-3 game with 2:41 to play.
Rooney scored 1:50 into the second quarter to put Salve Regina head, 6-3, before 43 seconds later freshman midfielder Sam Grande (Bedford, N.H.) closed the gap to 6-4. That would be as close as Wentworth would come as senior midfielder Blair Kelley (Lee, N.H.) and Gates each tallied twice to make it a 10-4 game at the half.
The two teams played an even, 1-1 third quarter as Wentworth sophomore Mark Pappas (Worcester, Mass.) and Salve Regina junior attackman Brendan Carroll (Garden City, N.Y.) traded goals, but the Seahawks would hold the hosts without a goal over the final 26:34, en route to the win.
Kelley, who also had a game-high nine ground balls, added two goals and one assist as did freshman midfielder Michael Samek (Kensington, Conn.). Carroll was Salve Regina's other multiple point scorer, tallying a goal and an assist. Senior Brett Pimental (East Falmouth, Mass.) picked up the win, making 10 saves in 51:36 of work. Sophomore Evan Simone (Dover, N.H.) made seven saves in 5:53, while freshman Adam Boyette (Galloway, N.J.) didn't need to make a save over the final 2:31.
Chris Guilherme scored twice for the Leopards while junior midfielder Justin Connors (Richboro, Pa.) had three assists. Sophomore Matt O'Connor (Duxbury, Mass.) made nine saves in the first half, while freshman Jeff Bathalon (Maynard, Mass.) made three second-half saves.
With the win the Seahawks snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 6-6 overall and 3-4 in TCCC play. Salve Regina is at Babson on Wednesday. Wentworth falls to 1-6 (0-6) and hosts Gordon Tuesday night.
