Box Score
BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Soccer won its third straight game with a 2-0 victory over nationally-ranked #22 Brandeis University Thursday evening.
The win for the Hawks is their first win over the Judges since a 1-0 contest back on October 27, 2008. Roger Williams improves to 3-2-1 on the year, while Brandeis drops to 2-3-0.
The Hawks scored early on in the game, then went to work on the defensive end for the rest of the game. Hannah Noel (Adams, Mass.) headed in a cross from the left side by Katie Fusaro (Hopkinton, Mass.) in the 11th minute to put the Hawks on top 1-0.
Over the course of the half, Brandeis had close opportunities to possibly tie the game, but could not convert. In the 20th minute, Brandeis' Hillary Andrews (New Bedford, Mass.) took a shot just inside the left part of the box but could not bend it in, hitting the side of the goal. At the 40:47 mark, a pinpoint through-ball up the middle by Mary Shimko (Bay Village, Ohio) was negated by an offsides call, ultimately ending the half with the Hawks on top.
Early in the second half, the Hawks nearly doubled their score but were denied on a crucial pair of stops by Brandeis. Noel fired a shot in the 57th minute on an Alexa Maher (Hopewell, N.J.) corner kick, but Allison Maresca (Wyckoff, N.J.) made a great kick stop to save a sure goal. Seconds later, she would deny another attempt by Kristen Tetreault (Tolland, Conn.) to keep the Hawks up by only one.
Solid defense by the Hawks helped keep the Judges off the board in the second half. Halfway through the period, Maher helped preserve the shutout, sliding in front of shot by Sapir Edalati (Great Neck, N.Y.) and affecting it enough to allow Stephanie Jaques (Burlington, Vt.) to make the save for the Hawks. In the 71st minute, Taryn Roussel (Ivoryton, Conn.) had a strong ball denial against Andrews who was making a run in the box alone.
In the closing seconds of the game, the Hawks' Tory Benoit (Shrewsbury, Mass.) knocked in her third goal of the year off of a long pass by Devon Leighton (Scarborough, Maine) to secure the win for RWU.
Jaques stopped a career-high ten shots on the day in the win for her second straight shutout. Francine Kofinas (Dix Hills, N.Y.) and Michelle Savuto (Ridgewood, N.J.) each made one save and allowed one goal for Brandeis, with Kofinas taking the loss.
“We created and scored two quality goals tonight as well as defending very well to keep another clean sheet,” said Head Coach Tim Moody. “It was a great team performance against a highly-ranked team in the region and nationally. When we went in front one-nil we were in control of the game and I knew we would win. We showed today what we can do if we put together all the pieces.
"In preseason the players showed glimpses of what they are capable of achieving and this game demonstrated we can play and compete with any team in the region.
"We are not the finished product yet, but we are happy with the team's progress and positive attitude in the last few weeks we have been together.
"And lastly, thank you to the fans who braved the weather tonight, the atmosphere they created was a part of the reason we got the result, they were tremendous tonight. I hope to see everyone at the next game."
Roger Williams will step back in conference play on Saturday, hosting Nichols College at 1:00 p.m. Brandeis travels to Bowdoin on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. matchup.
