Box Score
BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Soccer team defeated Elms College in the opening round of the ECAC Division III New England Women's Soccer Championships Wednesday afternoon.
The Hawk defense limited the Blazers to only four shots on the day, led by senior back Tory Benoit (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who broke the school record for games played with her 86th career contest, passing Amanda daCunha '10 and Alexa Maher '12.
The Hawks offense stayed active throughout the game, as the team put up 24 shots in the contest. Hannah Noel (Adams, Mass.) ended up with the first score of the contest in the 24th minute. Mariah Kaiser (Portsmouth, R.I.) put up a cross to Noel in the box, who headed the shot on net but had the attempt turned away by Elms keeper Alexa Rinaudo (Bellmore, N.Y.). The ball rolled away from Rinaudo, allowing Noel to convert the loose ball into her 11th goal of the year.
RWU had multiple opportunities in the first half to tack on more scores, but had their chances denied by stellar goalkeeping by Rinaudo. The sophomore netminder stopped eight of the Hawks nine shots on goal in the period, keeping the Blazer deficit at one.
However, the Hawks' persistence paid off in the second half, as the RWU tagged Elms for four goals in the period. Jessica Valenti (North Reading, Mass.) put in an open shot on a beautiful cross by Kaiser six minutes into the second half.
Ten minutes later, Kaiser added her first score of the game, taking a through pass from Katie Lydon (Riverside, R.I.) to give RWU a 3-0 lead. She scored her second goal of the contest in the 69th minute, putting in a shot off of a chip pass from Kristen Tetreault (Tolland, Conn.).
In the 86th minute, senior defender Amy Cripps (Exeter, R.I.) logged her second career goal, kicking in a corner from Kristen Casey (East Longmeadow, Mass.) for the final score of the day.
Hawk keeper Stephanie Jaques (Burlington, Vt.) notched her 26th career shutout, stopping two shots. Rinaudo took the loss, making ten saves on the day in 68:02 of action before being relieved by Hayley Zisk (Baldwinville, Mass.).
Roger Williams (18-2-3) will take on Albertus Magnus College on Saturday. Albertus Magnus defeated Framingham State 4-3 earlier today in the other ECAC Quarterfinal matchup. Elms wraps up the season with a record of 11-10-1.
