BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Lacrosse team advanced in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship with an overtime win over Wentworth (9-8 OT)  The Hawks improve to 9-6 overall and the Leopards drop to 10-6 on the season.

The first period saw each team score two goals.  Steve Glover (Marstons Mills, Mass.) opened for the Leopards on a pass from Alec Paradis (Pelham, N.H.) at 8:44.  Caleb Kenny (Portland, Maine) answered for the Hawks at 6:51 to bring the game back to even on the scoreboard. At 3:47 Paradis put the Leopards back up by one before Drew Beck (South Salem, N.Y) would tie the score :57 left in the period.

The second period had the Hawks build a two goal lead before the Leopards battled back to even before the half.  John Ricciardi (Duxbury, Mass.) fed an open Beck at 11:56 to put the score at 3-2.  Beck then dished to Cameron Signorelli (Albany, N.Y.) in the next possession to give the Hawks their only two goal cushion of the day.  Ryan Coakley (Flemington, N.J.) finished on a drive at 7:47 and Glover found an open Nick Parent who finished on net at 6:28 to bring the game to back to even.

The seesaw battle continued in the third period.  The Leopards took the lead when Paradis connected with Michael Cushera for his first of the day at 10:47. The Hawks scored the next two to bring it back to even and retake the lead. Signorelli hit the mark at 4:34 and Kevin Nash (Scituate, Mass.) put his first goal of the season in just a minute later to put the score at 6-5. The Paradis and Cushera duo reconnected in the closing seconds but this time Paradis scored his firstr goal.

The teams traded goals in the fourth with Ricciardi scoring at 11:50 for the Hawks and Paradis returning the favor for the Leopards at 6:07.  Ian Powers (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who scored his first of the day at 5:35 to give the Hawks a one goal lead. With less than a minute left in the game Coakley hit Glover for the finish to square it up and send it into sudden death overtime.

Alan Williams (Bristol, R.I.) secured the overtime faceoff for the Hawks and 52 seconds later Beck found an open Powers for the final score.  Powers who set his career high goals (5) in the last meeting a week earlier would prove to be fatal for the Leopards again.

Williams had another stellar day taking 18 of the 21 faceoffs giving the Hawks their only sizeable advantage in the stats.

Jared Proulx (Nashua, N.H.) saved 14 shots in the loss and Luke Aubrey (Norwalk, Conn.) stopped 12 balls in the win.

The Hawks advance to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Semifinals to take on the #2 seeded Golden Bears of Western New England University in Springfield, Mass. on May 1, 2013.