NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University men's soccer team overcame its youth and inexperience and injuries to several key players to capture the 2012 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship on its home field. Sophomore forward Jake Weinshank (Chapel Hill, N.C.) scored two first-half goals, with assists from seniors Bobby Ernst (Needham, Mass.) and Patrick Vierengel (Armonk, N.Y.), to lift Salve Regina (16-5-1) over visiting Nichols College (13-8), 2-0, in today's title game.

Both teams had advanced to the championship game with 2-1 semifinal victories. The fourth-seeded Bison upset top-seeded Roger Williams in overtime on Thursday after second-seeded Salve Regina had secured its place in the final with a 2-1 win over sixth-seeded Gordon College.

With today's triumph, Salve Regina raises its program-record win total to 16 and earns the automatic qualification to the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championships. The Seahawks will learn their place in the field during the selection show airing this Monday at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com.

The Bison, making their third straight appearance in the conference final and fourth in the last five years, had gone to overtime to win their previous two playoff contests. When these two programs played a scoreless tie in a semifinal meeting in Dudley, Mass., in 2010, Nichols advanced on penalty kicks and eventually won the conference championship in the same fashion against Gordon.

Prior to their regular-season match 11 days ago, the Seahawks had been winless in their previous four meetings with the Bison including the semifinal tie in 2010. Salve Regina trailed 1-0 into the 48th minute in the Oct. 23 contest before rallying for two goals in the second half to earn the 2-1 victory and the No. 2 seed in the conference championships.

The Seahawks were making their eighth appearance in the CCC finals and first since 2006. They last won the title in 2002 when they made their only other NCAA appearance. Salve Regina's first conference finals appearance came in 1992 when the then Newporters lost on neutral turf in Bristol, R.I., to Gordon College.

Today's championship marks the third in the history of the Seahawk program (1998, 2002, 2012) and first under head coach Craig O'Rourke II. "This was a very special year for us," commented the sixth-year head coach. "We recognized early that we were going to be very, very young. The conference pre-season poll picked us sixth; 21 out of 27 roster spots occupied by freshmen and sophomores."

"We sat down in pre-season with our captains (Jacob Brigandi, Bobby Ernst) and said that this year will be dictated by the type of leadership we have, not just from the coaches but the senior class and in particular these captains. I've never had a group respond to that demand the way that this senior class did, leading by word and action."

Among the many challenges the Seahawks faced was a rash of injuries. Facing their archrival Roger Williams on Oct. 10 without seven of their starters, the Seahawks trailed the Hawks, 2-0, at halftime.

"I said 'Forget the score, just focus on winning the second half' and when we got our first goal I knew we were going to 'win' the half," added O'Rourke. "Even though it wound up a 3-2 loss in overtime, that was a turning point. We recognized the depth and quality of talent on our full roster was going to power us through the season."

Depth came through today as Weinshank came off the bench at the 31:00 mark. Classmate Devin L'Heureux (Litchfield, N.H.), who had subbed in 10 minutes earlier, worked the ball into corner before finding an opening to deliver his feed. The ball sailed across the box where it was met by Ernst. The senior co-captain combined with Weinshank for a double-header that passed the Bison keeper.

Less than a minute to go in the first half, Weinshank worked with another senior, Vierengel, who had come off the bench at 37:16, to deliver an insurance goal. Freshman keeper Jeffrey L'Heureux (Litchfield, N.H.), Devin's younger brother, made that second goal unnecessary as he provided his second shutout of the playoffs and fifth-straight victory.

Francesco Chiaravalloti (Torrington, Conn.) made nine saves for the Bison while the younger L'Heureux denied all five shots on his net. Nichols senior Scott Coderre (Thompson, Conn.), second all-time on the Bison goal-scoring list, managed a team-high five shots. Sophomore Alex Wasilewski (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) led the Seahawks with four shots in his second game back after recovering from a Sept. 12 injury.