Salve Slips Past Owls Late, 3-2

WESTFIELD, Mass.  --     Salve Regina University's Ty Ferris tallied in the 83^rd minute to a complete the comeback, as the Seahawks topped Westfield State, 3-2 in a non-conference men's soccer match at Alumni Field on Tuesday afternoon.

Westfield State had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first 52 minutes of play on goals from Aidan Ferguson and Carter Hebert, but with the Owls liberally substituting, playing a total of 27 players and three goalkeepers in the midweek match, the Seahawks rallied with three goals in the final 34 minutes of the match to snatch the win.

Westfield is now 5-3-3 on the season, while Salve moves to 4-2-4.

The Owls got on the board first with Aidan Ferguson (Augsburg, Germany/Douglas) beating his defender on a contested ball near the top of the 18, and fired inside the far post for the goal.

Westfield doubled that lead early in the second half, as Dylan Wesley (Agawam, Mass.)centered the ball to Tim Tkacz (Suffield, Conn.) at the top of the penalty area, then sent it on to Carter Hebert (Easthampton, Mass.) unmarked on the left side, who found the short side for his fifth goal of the season and a 2-0 Owls lead in the 52^nd minute.

From there, momentum swung Salve's way.    Kyle Crawford (Severna Park, Md.) launched a serve from the left side about 30 yards out, but when a slew of players leapt to head the ball, no one touched the ball and it skipped inside the far post for a goal to trim the lead to 2-1 in the 57^th minute.

The Seahawks set up their second goal with good passing from Lincoln Freeman (Avon, Conn.) and Brett Rice (Severna Park, Md.), with Rice finding Michael Bagley (Trumbull, Conn.) in front of the goal mouth for the marker and a 2-2 tie in the 75^th minute.

Salve netted what proved to be the game-winner in the 83^rd minute, playing the ball out of the back with Hunter Schulz (Duxbury, Mass.) then playing a long through ball ahead to Ty Ferris (Ridgwood, NJ) for Ferris to run on to and find the back of the net.

Westfield used three goalkeepers in the match, with Marko Kononenko (Kyiv, Ukraine/Monument Mtn. ) throwing a shutout in the first half on five saves.   Alberto Truoiolo (Springfield, Mass./Pope Francis) and Jack Reilly (Quincy, Mass.) split the second half, with Reilly taking the loss late.

Salve split the game in goal with Adonis Santiago (Oakdale, Conn.) making three saves in the first half, and Nick Giorgi (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) making one save in the second half while earning the win.

Salve out-shot Westfield 22-16 overall, and 9-6 in shots on goal.  Salve produced four corner kicks to the Owls two.

Westfield State will be back in action on Saturday, hosting Worcester State in a MASCAC conference matchup at 11:00 a.m.