BRISTOL, R.I. – With a burst of energy in the second half, the second-seeded Roger Williams University Women's Soccer team defeated the number seven seed Nichols College 6-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Quarterfinals on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Bayside Field.

Senior forward Laurin Pendleton (Southwick, Mass.) led the Hawks with three goals, all in the second half. Junior midfielder Maddy Howard (Medfield, Mass.), sophomore forward Hannah Noel (Adams, Mass.), and freshman midfielder Kristen Tetreault (Tolland, Conn.) each added with goals of their own to lead the Hawks into the semifinal round of the CCC Tournament.

Despite the rain, which interfered heavily on the play of the game, the Hawks controlled the ball through most of the game, keeping possession through quick passes and nifty moves that allowed them move the ball up field with relative ease. However, even with the Hawks' maintain offensive control throughout most of the half, Nichols got on the board first with 8:35 remaining in the first period. Erica Antonison (Albertson, N.Y.) knocked in a corner kick by Kaitlyn DiBuono (Auburn, Mass.) to give the Bison a 1-0 lead.

RWU would tie the game at one with a goal by Tetreault similar to that of Antonison's, shooting in an Alexa Maher (Hopewell, N.J.) corner. Her fifth goal of the season sent the game into halftime tied 1-1.

Roger Williams exploded in the second half, scoring five goals to put the game out of reach. Pendleton, in as a substitution off the bench, took a pass from Noelle Marston (Kingston, Mass.) in the box and scored at the 67:31 mark to give the Hawks the permanent lead. Howard and Noel added scores to give the Hawks' a comfortable 4-1 lead.

Alyssa Tosti (Douglas, Mass.) notched a late score in the 84^th minute on a chip from Maria DiTommaso (Rindge, N.H.) to bring Nichols within two. Yet the Hawks earned the goal right back, as Pendleton scored in the final minute for her fifth career hat-trick, improving to six goals on the season and three shy of the school record.

“The wind and the rain is a poor combination for a soccer game, but I think we dealt with the elements pretty well,” said Head Coach Tim Moody. “We didn't change our game plan, despite the bad weather. We kept the ball, moved it, and created a lot of changes as we have the last five or six games.

“I was surprised we gave up the first goal after being in control so much, but this actually did us a favor. We then realized we needed to finish and score goals to win the contest. Once we scored from Alexa's [Maher] corner and Kristin's [Tetreault] header, I felt there was only going to be one winner. Scoring two quick goals so closely together effectively killed off the game.

“The score line is a fair reflection of how the match went and we were good for our six goals. We were happy to see Laurin [Pendleton] get a hat trick today. This should continue to motivate her and the team to continue scoring goals and pick up more rewards as well as recognition.

“Once again our focus is on the next game; therefore we need to prepare and put together a plan for Wednesday. Yet for today, we will enjoy the win and warm up after being out in the freezing rain for the last two hours.”

With the win, Roger Williams (12-6-1) moves on to play #3 Salve Regina University, who defeated Eastern Nazarene 2-1 earlier in the day in double overtime, on Wednesday afternoon at 1 pm. Nichols closes out its season with a record of 6-9-1.