Seahawks surrender second-half lead to Wildcats

NEWPORT, R.I. (September 5, 2021) - Salve Regina University graduate student Jacob Guerra (Colchester, Conn.) scored his second goal in two days in the third minute of today's home matchup with Johnson & Wales University men's soccer, but the Wildcats tallied twice in the second half to finish with a 2-1 victory at Toppa Field.

Series and Streaks
The Seahawks still lead the all-time series, 9-6-1, but the Wildcats have not lost in the last six meetings (five wins and a draw since 2014). Salve Regina had won the first eight meetings in the series that started in 1995.

Three Stars of the Game

1. Johnson & Wales senior Erick Gonçalves (Cumberland, R.I.) scored the game-winner following a cross from junior Estaban Osorio (Central Falls, R.I.).  
2. Johnson & Wales junior keeper Jacob Friedman (Woodland Hills, Calif.) ranged well outside his goal to make heads up plays for the Wildcats, while finishing with three saves. 
3. Salve Regina graduate student Jacob Guerra (Colchester, Conn.) scored his second goal of the year driving down on the left side with a feed from Rich Ventura (Floral Park, N.Y.).

Turning Point
Chuckie Tenbush (Williamsburg, Va.) threw in from 25 yards out and Ricky Africo (North Providence, R.I.) headed a volley that Kevin Reilly (Norwood, N.J.) finished with a header of his own 

Quick Hits

• Nathan Reid (Magnolia, Del.) made three saves in his second start in back-to-back days at goalkeeper for the Seahawks.
• Jacob Friedman (Woodland Hills, Calif.) stopped three shots for the Wildcats.
• Alessandro Oggiano (Stoughton, Mass.) registered a defensive save in the first half.
• It was the first home game for Salve Regina in 666 days (November 9, 2019) when the Seahawks hosted the Gulls of Endicott College in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) championship match.

Quote
"Scoring the early goal was great. It was probably the best 20 opening minutes we played all season in our three matches. On that long throw in that led to their first goal, we lost first ball and lost second ball and it wound up in the net. The more concerning goal for me was the second one as it was a complete defensive breakdown in mulitple facets ... losing the ball in transition, them gaining the midfield third, them going east to west in the third and having multiple players chase the ball rather than staying with their man. They did what we wanted to do and that is play the diagonal ball into the width, attack from the width and gain the goal line and put it across." - head coach Craig O'Rourke II.

O'Rourke added about the fanatic crowd of first-year Seahawks: "Having a crowd like that in the stadium was electrifying! I think our guys fed off that for the first 20 minutes and hear that crowd cheer when we scored the first goal in the opening three minutes. I wish we had built on that. The crowd was absolutely tremendous; I wish we could have given them the result they deserved today."

Next Up
Salve Regina (1-2-0) will hit the road to face UMass Dartmouth on September 8, at 7 p.m., while Johnson & Wales (2-0-0) returns home to face Colby-Sawyer on September 11 at 1 p.m.