NEWPORT, R.I. – Freshman Nick LoCiero's (Lynbrook, N.Y.) goal, 2:24 into the fourth quarter snapped a 7-all tie and helped propel the Salve Regina University men's lacrosse team to a 10-8 over Wentworth Institute of Technology in an opening round contest of the 2014 Commonwealth Coast Conference Men's Lacrosse Tournament.
With the win the Seahawks upped their win streak to three, improving to 13-4 on the season. Salve Regina will travel to top-seeded and 13th-ranked Endicott for a CCC semifinal on Wednesday evening. Wentworth sees its season come to an end with a 7-9 record.
Eleven days ago these two teams had a back-and-forth battle, which resulted in a 13-12 overtime win for the Seahawks and today's contest was no different. The Leopards got on the board first on a junior Michael Cushera (Waltham, Mass.) goal with 12:26 left in the opening frame before the hosts tied the game with 5:22 left on a senior Chad Hollenshade (Lutherville, Md.) goal.
Fourteen seconds later Cushera fed senior Steve Glover (Marstons Mills, Mass.) to give the Black & Gold a 2-1 lead and a senior Chris Kipp (Scarborough, Maine) goal 1:56 later increased the Leopard lead to 3-1.
Sophomore Nick Parent (Windham, N.H.) upped the lead to 4-1 with an unassisted tally 1:37 into the second quarter. Salve Regina responded by scoring the next three goals as LoCicero, sophomore Sharp Jones (Scituate, Mass.), and Hollenshade all scored to tie the score at 4-all.
Glove gave Wentworth a 5-4 lead with a goal with 39 seconds left, however, Hollenshade answered with four ticks remaining to knot the score at 5-all at the break.
A Glover goal put Wentworth ahead, 6-5 with 9:49 left in the third before Salve Regina scored the next two off the sticks of senior Curtis McKeon (West Haven, Conn.) and senior Dan Parks (Nesconset, N.Y.) to take a 7-6 lead with 7:02 left. Parent would score with just under three minutes left in the frame to knot the score at 7-all.
After LoCiero's goal had put the Seahawks in front, McKeon made it a two-goal game with a marker with 4:24 left. Just under two minutes later, Glover made it a one-goal game with his fourth of the contest. McKeon fed Hollenshade for his fourth of the contest to add an insurance goal with 1:51 remaining.
Wentworth had a pair of chances within a 16-second span to bring it back to a one-goal game, however, freshman Andrew Watkins (Natick, Mass.) made two saves to keep it a two-goal game. The Leopards got the ball back with 55 seconds left and were able to get a shot on goal, which was turned aside by Watkins before holding on for the win.
In addition to Hollenshade's four goals, LoCiero had a pair of goals and three assists and McKeon had two goals and an assist. McKeon, who had won19 of 27 at the X and picked up 24 ground balls in the regular-season meeting, won 18 of 22 at the X today and scooped up 18 ground balls. Watkins finished with 13 saves.
Glover scored four times and ends his career second on the program's all-time goal scoring list with 104 and fifth with 134 career points. Parent had two goals, Cushera added a goal and an assist, sophomore Tim Parlato (Needham, Mass.) scooped up six ground balls, and classmate James Caldwell (New Milford, Conn.) had five caused turnovers. Senior Jared Proulx (Nashua, N.H.) made 14 saves in his final appearance in a Leopard uniform.
