Box Score

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Junior Chris Walker (Marshfield, Mass.) scored six times to help the Salve Regina University men's lacrosse team rally back from an early three-goal deficit and defeat the University of New England, 13-9, in The Commonwealth Coast Conference regular-season finale Wednesday afternoon at Reynolds Field.

The Seahawks (9-7, 6-4 TCCC) grab the sixth seed in the upcoming TCCC Tournament with their third consecutive win, and will visit No. 3 Gordon College in the quarterfinal round on Saturday. UNE (8-9, 4-6 TCCC) settles on the No. 7 spot, resulting in the trip to second-seeded Endicott College the same day.

Down 5-2 after the initial period, Salve notched the next six scores over the entire second quarter and half of the third to gain control of the contest at 8-5. Walker found the back of the cage three times in that time, and junior Brendan Carroll (Garden City, N.Y.) tallied all four of his points in the game (2 goals, 2 assists) during the stretch. Senior Brendan Rooney (West Newton, Mass.) had the other goal in the span, while adding two assists.

UNE junior Dylan Thomas (Mount Pleasant, N.Y.) threw in his second marker of the game with 6:23 to go in the third, trimming the margin to two (8-6), but the Nor'easters could not get any closer. Two goals 26 seconds apart in the opening minutes of the fourth period pushed the SRU lead to four, and the teams traded scores the rest of the way.

Senior Michael Woods (Kittery Point, Maine) led Big Blue with four points on two goals and a pair of assists. Junior Michael Pennachhio (Peabody, Mass.) also contributed two scores.

The Nor'easters surrendered the first goal of the match just over five minutes in, but responded with five of the next six to take the lead heading into the second frame. First-year Dan O'Gorman (Putnam Valley, N.Y.) put the visitors ahead, 3-2, just seven seconds after Salve tied the contest late in the period, taking the face-off and going right in for his only tally of the game.

For the Seahawks, first-year Chad Hollenshade (Lutherville, Md.) finished with three goals. Classmate Curtis McKeon (West Haven, Conn.) won 16 of the 24 face-offs he took on the day, and picked up a game-high nine ground balls. On the defensive end, senior goalie Brett Pimental (East Falmouth, Mass.) posted a career-best 26 saves, as his team was out-shot by a 52-38 margin.

UNE junior netminder Nate Porter (Cohasset, Mass.) turned away 16 shots -- matching his season-high.