Seahawks edged by Vikings in home opener, 3-2

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. - The Salve Regina men's ice hockey team dropped a hard fought 3-2 decision in their home opener versus visiting Salem State at a packed Portsmouth Abbey Ice Rink on Thursday night. The loss knocks the Seahawks to 1-2 on the young season, while the Vikings improve to 1-0.

Salve Regina received goals from freshmen Peter Gintoli (Monroe, Conn.) and Marc Biggs (Plano, Texas), while sophomore captain John Scorcia (Hudson, Fla.) dished-out an assist in his season debut. Senior Mike McDonald (Whitby, Ontario) was strong in net once again for the Seahawks, making a game-high 34 saves on the night.

Senior Dan Smolinsky (Plymouth, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal for the Vikings, while freshmen Chris Mastropetro (Revere, Mass.) and Cam Moniz (Seekonk, Mass.) each had markers of their own. Junior Mark Macdonald (Norwell, Mass.), freshman Michael Washington (Denver, Colo.), and senior Derek Crocker (Wakefield, Mass.) each had assists in the win, while junior Ryan Sutliffe (Las Vegas, Nev.) stopped 20-of-22 shots to earn the victory in net.

The Seahawks wasted little time jumping on the board, scoring a short-handed goal at the 1:40 mark of the opening period. Gintoli poked the puck away from the Vikings in his own end, raced to the opposite blue line to gather possession, and then fired a shot from the top of the right circle which found the lower right side of the net to give Salve Regina the 1-0 advantage.

However, the Vikings answered back just 35 seconds later when Cocker and Mastrpietro pulled off a pretty give-and-go along the right side to knot the score at one-all.

Salem State grabbed its first lead of the night at the 9:17 mark of the first frame, as Moniz gathered a rebound off a shot which hit the post and delivered a wrister into the left side of the net to give the Vikings a 2-1 advantage.

The Seahawks battled back to tie the score at 18:21 in the opening frame when Scorcia battled for the puck behind the net and then delivered a pretty pass out in front of the net where Biggs slapped a shot over the goalies right shoulder to tie the game at 2-2.

After 17:30 of scoreless hockey in the second period, the Vikings finally broke through at 17:37 when Macdonald and Washington set up Smolinsky in front of the net where he sent a wrister into the top left corner of the goal for what turned out to be the game-winning score, 3-2.

The third period was heavily contested, and the Seahawks had their chances with three power plays in the frame, however, the Vikings defense held strong as they skated to the 3-2 win.

Both teams were unable to muster any power play offense, combining to go 0-15 (SRU, 0-9 / SSU, 0-6) on extra-man opportunities.

The Vikings return to the ice next Wednesday, hosting Wentworth in their home opener at 7 p.m., while the Seahawks won't play again until next Saturday, traveling to face Nichols in their ECAC Northeast opener at 7:40 p.m.