Salve Regina makes early statement to start their season

Even with a new coach, it took Salve Regina very little time to make an early season statement.

The Seawolves opened their season by hitting the road and snapping the 25-game unbeaten streak that had been crafted by last year’s Division 3 champion, Norwich. The 3-2 win also snapped the Cadets’ 22-game unbeaten streak at Kreitzberg Arena.

In the first meeting between the programs, Jack Billings, Evan Schmidbauer and Danny Eruzione (Winthrop, Mass.) each scored goals for the Seahawks, who led 3-0 early in the third period after Eruzione scored and then hung on for dear life, while Blake Wojtala made 37 saves.

Salve’s first month under new coach Zech Klann proved that opening-night result was no fluke. Behind guys like Billings, a sophomore whose nine goals in late November tied him for the national lead, the Seahawks got off to a 6-1 start, which included a home-and-home sweep of the University of New England, with Wojtala making a career-high 61 saves in the 6-4 win that closed it. …