MIDDLETOWN, R.I. -- The Salve Regina women's hockey team defeated the Curry Colonels Friday night thanks to the help of freshman forward Riley Esposito (Enfield, Conn.), who added two goals in the 3-1 victory.

The scoring did not open up until the second period, which was dominated by the Seahawks on the scoreboard. Just 3:27 apart, Seahawks co-captain Maddie Cox (Barrington, R.I.) and Esposito netted two goals to give Salve a quick, comfortable two-goal lead.

The Seahawks looked to be on their way to a comfortable victory after killing three penalties with ease, but the Colonels answered quickly into the third as Grayson Goolgasian (Johnston, R.I.) scored on the power-play to cut the Seahawks' lead in half.

Curry turned up the gas on the forecheck pushing for the game-tying goal late in the third, and called Soleil Archambeault (London, Ontario) to the bench with about two minutes remaining in the game. Skating 5-on-6, the Seahawks put the nail in the coffin as Esposito doubled her goal total for the evening, firing the puck into the empty net at 18:55 of the third period.

The Seahawks (9-12, 4-11 CCC) travel to Suffolk University (14-5-2, 12-1-2 CCC) to take on the first-place Rams in a conference matchup on Friday. The Seahawks meet the Rams for the third time this season, having dropped the first two earlier on in the season (2-0, 5-1).