NASHUA, N.H. – The Roger Williams University Club ice Hockey team competed in and won the Colonial Division championship in the Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association (NECHA) this past weekend. The NECHA has three divisions and crowns a champion in each.

The Hawks played Daniel Webster College Saturday in the semifinals and won 6-1. On Sunday, the team faced off against in-state rival, Rhode Island College in the finals and beat the Anchormen 2-1 to win the championship.

The championship game was a defensive struggle for 58 minutes with the Hawks holding on to a 1-0 lead. RIC pulled the goalie and scored with a little over a minute to play. The game appeared to be headed to overtime when freshman Sean Williamson took the puck down the ice and scored on a shot from the boards that on a difficult angle but flew behind the goalie for the winning score.

“Coming into the week the team had a great week of practice,” said Head Coach Ed Silva.  “You could tell by the way they were skating that the team was focused on what they wanted to do. They came in to the game on Saturday and absolutely dominated from the drop of the puck to the final buzzer. On Sunday we came out with the same intensity and carried the play for the entire game. 

“With 1:26 left to play and they scored we still did not get rattled.  It was almost like we did not care that they scored. After about 30 seconds when Sean Williamson scored the eventual winning goal, the whole team knew that was the only way that we should have finished the season. After what Sean and his family went through with the loss of Sean's brother and their son this was the absolute best way to finish such an emotional season.”

Congratulations to the hockey team on the championship!