QUINCY, Mass. - The Salve Regina University men's soccer team scored a pair of first half goals to defeat Eastern Nazarene, 2-0, on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Seahawks improve to 4-1-1 overall, but more importantly, it was the team's first Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) win, improving their conference mark to 1-0-1.

Early in the opening half, both teams fought to control the tempo of the game, but it was Salve Regina who gained the edge by playing aggressively while still in control.  That combined with the Seahawk's speed and size seemed to slowly give the edge to SRU, and Salve Regina was able to post their first point in the tenth minute on an unassisted Nicodemo Camarda (Burlington, N.J.) goal.

Shortly after going up 1-0, midway through the first half, the Seahawks' Sean McAllister (North Arlington, N.J.) furthered the gap when he scored to put SRU up by two. From that point on, the Lions defense tightened up and the offense started to attack the opposition with purpose. In the last 10 minutes of the first half, ENC outshot the Seahawks and went into the locker room with confidence about the opportunity to come back in second half play.

The clock started for the second half of the soccer match and there was a different atmosphere on the field. The intensity increased exponentially and both teams began to play with tenacity on every ball. The second half brought out a seemingly different Lions soccer team than the one that ran on the field in the first half. The defensive play from ENC in the last 45 minutes of the game was phenomenal, led by sophomore Josh Kaplan. The tall, aggressive defenseman seemed to win every ball, whether in the air or on the ground, and every cross found its way out of the zone due to his presence.

Despite the 2-0 loss that brought the men's soccer team to 0-6, the men's team showed growth and potential in Saturday's match against a strong Salve Regina team.  The last 60 minutes were incredibly hard fought and well played. It is clear that if the Lions take Saturday's second-half defensive momentum and use it in their upcoming contests, this season has all kinds of possibilities.

ENC returns to play on Wednesday, September 21st against Becker College. The Seahawks will take to the field again on Tuesday when they host UMass Dartmouth in non-conference action beginning at 4 p.m.