MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – The Roger Williams University men's lacrosse team was pushed to overtime on Wednesday afternoon at Gaudet Field, defeating the Seahawks of Salve Regina, 11-10, in the Bernasconi Cup, named after RWU '91 graduate and Salve Regina Assistant Coach Rich Bernasconi.

The Hawks were outshot 52-34 in the contest, with Salve Regina saving 11 of the 22 shots that they faced, while Roger Williams saved 17 of their 27 faced attempts. Salve Regina had 20 turnovers to the Hawks 21, with successful clears on 23 of their 25 opportunities. Salve Regina also held an 18-7 edge in faceoffs.

Kyle Zirn (Chester, N.H.) had three caused turnovers with six ground balls in the contest on the defensive end. Tyler Zanini (Hopkinton, Mass.) had one caused turnover and two ground balls on the day, with Michael Bussinelli (Ridgewood, N.J.) held the same stat line. Chris Giorgi (Danbury, Conn.) also had a caused turnover for the Hawks in the matchup.

Offensively, Riley Spellman (Manchester, N.H.) led the way with four points with a pair of goals and two assists. Matt Hemmert (Braintree, Mass.) registered a hat trick with three goals on 10 shots, putting five attempts on net. Brian Gazard (Ashland, Mass.), Matt Halpin (Hanover, Mass.), and Kevin Murphy (Ramsey, N.J.) each had a pair of points on the day.

Jack Naglieri had three caused turnovers in the tilt for Salve Regina, while their offense was paced by Brendan Treacy and Daniel Naglieri who were responsible for four points each. 

The Hawks were the first team to strike, scoring the first goal of the game 6:12 into the opening contest, with Hemmert finishing on the attempt. The Hawks struck again in the first 2:35 later when Ryan Vendetti (Farmington, Conn.) fired a shot into the back of the cage. After the Seahawks committed a slashing penalty, Spellman found an open Gazard for a goal with 3:29 remaining to go up, 3-0.

Salve Regina was able to get a goal back 3:02 into the second quarter, when Brendan Treacy found Stephen McAllister for a goal. The Hawks regained their three goal lead with Hemmert scoring his second goal of the game with 8:02 remaining. The Seahawks then scored a goal just under a minute later when Treacy put a shot by Aaron D'Aversa (Sea Cliff, N.Y.), who tallied 17 saves on the day, cutting the deficit to 2. Spellman scored a goal with 5:14 remaining, before Salve Regina scored one just under 3:00 remaining to go into halftime trailing 5-3.

In the third period, Roger Williams picked up where they left off with Eric Brooks (Milford, Mass.)  and Hemmert scoring goals just over 20 seconds apart, to go up by four. Salve Regina added a goal by Chris Koltzan with 3:36 remaining in the in the quarter, cutting the lead back down to three. A goal by Halpin with 2:52 remaining in the quarter closed out scoring of the frame.

After a pair of early goals for the Seahawks to start the quarter, Roger Williams added two, to lead 10-6 at the 10:33 mark of the fourth.  Salve Regina scored three straight goals within a span of 1:16 to cut the Hawks lead down to one. The Seahawks struck again for their fourth straight goal with 6:41 remaining when Liam Cooney found Stephen McAllister for an open shot and finish. The two teams would head to overtime knotted up at 10-10.

In the final frame, the Seahawks took the opening faceoff before putting two shots on target, one wide the next into the netting of D'Aversa. The Hawks then went on transition, taking a time out to reset the offense. The Hawks came out with Murphy holding possession before being pushed towards the sideline, Murphy then put a pass out to Spellman, who rocketed a shot into the back of the cage for the win.

"I am so happy for our seniors and alumni on staff. The Rich Bernasconi Cup is back in Bristol. I give Salve and Coach Cooney's group a lot of credit for such a strong fourth quarter push," said head coach Kevin Gould. "I am happy to see first year Riley Spellman and Brady Lee (Mattapoisett, Mass.) shine in a tough rivalry game."

Roger Williams (1-1, 0-0 CCC) will face Lasell on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 1:00 pm on Bayside Field.  The Hawks will then travel to MIT on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 4:00 pm.