HENNIKER, N.H. – New England College held off a late surge by the Roger Williams University Men's Lacrosse team, edging the Hawks 9-8 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) Quarterfinal action Saturday afternoon.

With the win the Pilgrims improve to 13-5 overall and advance to the TCCC Semifinals, opponent yet to be determined, on Wednesday, May 4.  With the loss the Hawks finish their season with an overall record 8-9.

NEC's Brian Gillis (North Vancouver, B.C.) would start the scoring just two minutes into the game as he would fire in a pass from Ryan Von Uffel (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.). Roger Williams would get the goal right back as Jim Turenne (Bristol, R.I.) would net his seventeenth goal of the season at the 10:39 mark. The two teams would exchange goals late in the quarter as Colin Gordon (Manchester, Mass.) would register a goal for the Pilgrims and Logan Roebuck (Montgomery, N.Y.) would convert on a Hawk man-up opportunity.

The two teams would battle through the majority of the second half scoreless before Roger Williams' Ian Powers (Shrewsbury, Mass.) would break the silence scoring with 10 seconds remaining in the half to give the Hawks the 3-2 halftime lead.

Roger Williams would extend their lead to 4-2 early in the second half as Roebuck would score his second man-up goal of the afternoon assisted by Turenne. The NEC offense would come alive netting three goals in a two minute span to grab their first lead since early in the opening quarter up 5-4.

Roger Williams' Justin Leddy (Sea Girt, N.J.) would break the NEC run recording his seventeenth goal of the season knotting the game at 5-5 with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter. NEC's Colin Gordon would then net the Pilgrims' first man-up goal of the afternoon at the 5:36 mark giving NEC the 6-5 advantage.

NEC would extend their lead to 9-5 as the Pilgrims would open the fourth quarter with three straight scores, including two by senior Matt Carey (Medford, N.Y.). Roger Williams would not give in as Dan Klink (Nashua, N.H.) would fire in two goals in a 50-second time span slicing the lead to 9-7.  The Hawks would continue to battle as Drew Beck (South Salem, N.Y.) would come from behind the net and sneak in a shot getting Roger Williams within a goal with 2:35 on the clock.

The Hawks would have the final possession of the game as Beck would get a shot off but NEC keeper Nick Aquaviva (Syracuse, N.Y.) would come up with the save to solidify the 9-8 victory.

Leading the way for NEC was Colin Gordon who finished with three goals and Matt Carey who netted two goals for the Pilgrims.

Leading the way for Roger Williams was Turenne who had a goal and dished out two assists, while Klink and Logan Roebuck each netted two goals each for the Hawks.

NEC held the slight advantage in shots outshooting Roger Williams 36-34 on the afternoon.

Picking up the win in net for NEC was Nick Aquaviva (Syracuse, N.Y.) who finished the afternoon with 10 saves.  In goal for Roger Williams was Tyler Roebuck (Montgomery, N.Y.) who recorded 12 saves on the afternoon.

- Release courtesy of the New England College Sports Information Department