By: Liam W. Cooney | Staff Writer
Another winter season of Seahawk athletics has come and gone. For Men’s and Women’s Basketball, their final season competing in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), entering the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) for next year.
Men’s Basketball
Record/Result: 9-17 overall, CCC quarter final exit
After a below .500 regular season, Men’s Basketball was still able to sneak into the CCC playoffs, losing to Western New England 69-76 in a down to the wire round 1 matchup, in Springfield, Massachusetts. The Seahawks were able to get a postseason bid, after their 4-1 stretch from January 24th to February 7th, beating rival Roger Williams in the process. Coach Sean Foster told me this stretch was a highlight of the team for the season, in which the team “executed well,” outscoring opponents by an average of 16 points per game during these 4 key down the stretch wins. Stat leaders for the Seahawks included Graduate Senior Mikey Spencer (Abington, Mass) with 22.2 and 7 boards per game, leading the conference in points. Sophomore JoJo Powers (Dedham, Mass) leading the team with 3.1 assists per game, Junior Jack Kruse (Yorktown Heights, NY), a sneaky hot hand, leading from the field shooting an impressive 54.8%.
Graduating three 1,000+ point scorers in the past two years, Foster notes how they will need others to step up and fill these vacant roles. He noted Powers, as well as rising senior Clay Brochu (North Kingstown, RI), and rising junior Declan Walmsley (Franklin, Mass), as players who can fill these scoring rules, along with “impact players with length” in the incoming recruiting class. In speaking directly with Brochu, he told me his disappointment about this season, but also his hopes for next year, noting, “We went from being in the [CCC] championship to losing the first round in the playoffs. We had some highlights, but we were a young team that had to face adversity almost all season.” A young team this year, losing 1k point scorers Kevin Kelly (Valhalla, NY) and Cam Collins (Oakdale, Conn) a year before. That adversity coupled with young guys having to fill new and bigger roles “will only make us better in the future” Brochu said.
Women’s Basketball
Record/Result: 16-10 overall, CCC quarter final exit
A hot start to the season that led into the team’s Las Vegas trip, the Seahawks went 7-2 out the gates in their first 9 games, beating future NEWMAC opponents Clark (11/19) and Wellesley (12/28, Las Vegas) in the process. Their season would come to an end in a quarterfinal playoff matchup vs. Western New England, on February 21st. In the regular season, the Seahawks split with the Golden Bears and went 1-1. Rising senior F Brianna Neary (Wayne, NJ) told me the team had “too many unforced turnovers” in this matchup, leaving “WNE with more offensive opportunities.” Neary, who led the team with 14.5 points per game, tied for first with 8 rebounds a game, told me she feels the team really matured this past season, with momentum that will only carry over into next year entering the NEWMAC. “We only had 2 returners from the 2019-2020 team, so we were pretty much a new team. We had more chemistry, which led us to a more successful season. Next season, we will have the starting 5 back. We graduated 4 seniors and 2 are coming back for their 5th year. We have 6 or so incoming freshmen and 8 returners. We should expect a bigger role from all of the returners, to be leaders on and off the court.”
Men’s Hockey
Record/Result: 15-10-1 overall, CCC semi final exit
Yet another exciting season of Salve Men’s Hockey came to an unfortunate end Saturday February 25th, with a 4-3 OT loss to Endicott. The Seahawks with a lead late in the third intermission of this contest, would ultimately give up a goal with little time left in regulation, then letting in the game winner for the Endicott Gulls. As a leader of the team, rising senior Anthony Azzano (Courtice, Ontario) told me this was definitely one of the failures of the team’s season, not being able to close this one out, falling just short of a berth to the CCC championship. Azzano also mentioned how the season was not without successes however, as Salve’s Mens Hockey’s run competing against some of the most dominant teams in the nation only continued this year. November 19th was the Seahawks “Mental Health Awareness night, as they welcomed in 9th ranked University of New England, the night before losing to the Nor’easters 5-2 in regulation. Things were different this night however, as the Seahawks amidst a packed crowd would beat the 9th ranked team in the nation 6-4 in a high scoring affair. Freshman Logan Calder (Portage la Prairie, Manitoba) would lead the team with 3 goals in this contest, scoring his first career goal in the first intermission. Similar national success came when the Seahawks took 1st ranked and eventual national champions Hobart to OT December 31st at the Hobart tournament, losing 2-1.
Women’s Hockey
Record/Result: 11-13 overall, did not qualify for playoffs
Our last team to recap, the Salve Women’s Hockey team, who after a 11-13 regular season, unfortunately failed to qualify for the CCC tournament. Not all negatives looking at the season as a whole however, as there were some bright sports for these Seahawks. Winning 5 of their last 8 games, Women’s Hockey found some momentum in the latter third of the season, rising junior Emma Perreira (Easton, Mass) told me this success was due to the fact the team “started to work better together at the end of the season.” Beating Endicott for the first time in program history, in a 3-2 OT victory on the 21st of January. Perreira would be the one to give rising sophomore Riley Esposito (Enfield, Conn) the assist in OT, bringing this historic win to fruition. As Perreira mentioned to me however, the team’s biggest issue was the inability to score. Putting in 1.75 goals per game, the Seahawks ranked 5th in the conference in scoring, in front of only Nichols (1.6) and Curry (1.4), respectively. After a highly successful freshman season, look for Esposito to be someone to keep your eyes on next year, the 1x CCC rookie of the week led the team in goals with 12 on the season, tying Perreira for most assists on the roster with 6.
Photos by Samantha Mansolf and George Corrigan
