BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Lacrosse team advances to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Game for the first time since 2003 with a 12-5 win over Endicott College. 

The Hawks' last berth to the CCC Championship was nine years ago, when RWU dropped a 13-9 decision to Gordon College. For Endicott, the loss ends a bid for a third straight CCC Championship and marks the first time in nine seasons that the Gulls have not reached the conference championship game.

The Hawks were first to strike at the 13:19 mark of the first period when John Ricciardi (Duxbury, Mass.) found the net on an assisted goal.  Endicott's Peter Erickson (Yarmouth, Maine) returned to the game to even with his own unassisted effort at 9:26.  At the 4:23 left in the first Ben Wyskiel (Dover, N.H.) hit Jon Nessa (Concord, Mass.) for the Hawks second goal.  A little over two minutes later the Hawks would strike again with Ricciardi hitting Todd Carson (Pennington, N.J.) for the finish to put the contest at 3-1 for the Hawks. 

With 37 seconds to play in the first, Endicott's Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) connected with Jon Thanas (Cumberland, R.I.) to cut the lead to one goal. Ricciardi closed the first period with his second unassisted goal of the period to bring the game to 4-2. 

An evenly played second period saw both team score twice.   At 14:17 to play in the second, Nessa scored an unassisted goal to spread the lead to 5-2. Endicott's Jeremy Morgan (Ridge, N.Y.) countered with his own unassisted effort at the 13:26.  Connor Prescott (Norwalk, Conn.) found Nick Togneri (Beverly, Mass.) at the 12:07 for EU second score of the period bringing the game to 5-4. RWU's Drew Beck (South Salem, N.Y.) hit Carson at 5:32 to give the Hawks a two-goal cushion at half.

The second half opened with three quick goals for the Hawks in less than ninety seconds of play, the first coming from Ian Powers (Shrewsbury, Mass.) on a pass from Beck.  Seven seconds later, Alan Williams (Bristol, R.I.) scored after winning the face-off and beating the defense for an unassisted goal. Less than a minute later Beck found Adam Vorwald (South Setauket, N.Y.) for his third assist of the day to stretch the lead to five goals. 

Carson connected with Nessa to open the fourth period scoring at 13:15 in the fourth. EC answered at 12:38 when Erickson hooked up with Harry Holden (Duxbury, Mass.) at 12:38. Carson took it to the house for an unassisted goal at 9:32 to put the game out of reach. Mitri Najjar (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) fed Nessa for a man-up goal at 4:48 to put the score at 12-5.  Holden gave Thanas an open look at 4:01 to play for the last goal.

CCC Rookie of the Year Luke Aubrey (Norwalk, Conn.) had 11 saves in the win. Nessa finished with four goals, while Carson added three scores. Collin Schmitt (Longmeadow, Mass.) was a force on defense with five ground balls and five caused turnovers.

Tom Burke (Sudbury, Mass.) stopped seven shots in the loss. Thanas scored twice for Endicott, while Holden and Erickson each added a goal and an assist. Michael Armstrong (Winchester, Mass.) finished with three ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Roger Williams (10-5) will travel to Springfield on Saturday to take on top-seeded Western New England University, who earlier defeated Gordon College 17-3. Endicott now falls to 9-9 on the year.