Middletown, R.I. – Clark University squandered an early 3-0 lead as Salve Regina rallied behind a hat trick from Nick LoCicero (Lynbrook, N.Y.) and the visiting Cougars dropped a triple overtime 7-6 decision to the Seahawks in the longest game in school history at Gaudet Field on Wednesday evening.

 Nick LoCicero (Lynbrook, N.Y.) scored a hat-trick goal to give Salve Regina University a 7-6 victory over Clark University in the third overtime at Gaudet Field on Wednesday night.

The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second after goals from Kyle Elkins (Stow, Mass.) and a pair from Will Mandracchia (Melrose, Mass.) and looked poised to carry the shutout into halftime until LoCicero broke through for the Seahawks first goal.

Salve Regina trimmed the lead almost immediately into the second half when LoCicero added his second goal of the game 1:25 into the third. The Seahawks then evened the game when Jake Gonzalez (Tolland, Conn.) followed it up eight seconds later, scoring off the faceoff to tie the game.

The Seahawks would close the third, like they started it, scoring two more goals – both from Andrew Fera (Cranston, R.I.) – in the final 1:30 of the frame, capping their string of five straight goals and taking a 5-3 edge. First, LoCicero set up Fera for his first of the evening to give Salve Regina the lead, then Fera scored his second with just six seconds left with the help of Sharp Jones (Scituate, Mass.).

Clark sliced the lead in half in the opening minutes of the fourth when Peter Christiansen (Seattle, Wash.) snapped a shot past Matt D'Amore (Duxbury, Mass.) to make it 5-4.

The Seahawks pushed the lead back to two when Fera capped his hat trick with 10:09 left in the fourth to make it 6-4.

Salve Regina's momentum was stymied 35 seconds later when Nick Johnson (Amherst, Mass.) scored on an acrobatic play. Then like Gonzalez had done earlier for the Seahawks, Ryan Marsh (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) scored off the ensuing faceoff, and just like that the game was tied with a little more than nine minutes to play.

Both teams traded several chances but neither could find the back of the net until LoCicero buried the game-winning goal just 90 seconds into the third overtime, racing from behind the net and twisting to fire the shot home.

With the win the Seahawks improve to 1-2 on the season while the Cougars fall to 3-2.

D'Amore made 17 saves for Salve Regina, picking up his first career win, while Drew Riopelle-Tyrell (Northville, Mich.) stopped 16 – his fourth straight game with 16 saves or more.

Clark will look to return to the win column on Saturday when they host Manhattanville College at 1:00 p.m.