WORCESTER, Mass. – The #15 Roger Williams University Women's Soccer team scored a pair of goals less than ten minutes apart midway through the second half and shook off an upset-minded Clark University team to post a 2-1 win in non-league women's soccer action on Tuesday evening.

The Hawks, who opened the season with four straight wins entering their meeting with the Cougars, are also ranked No. 2 in the latest regional poll.

Clark was able to keep them off the board in the first half despite some excellent scoring chances in the first 45 minutes. Haley Carignan (Scarborough, Maine) had her header from deep inside the box sail just wide and then Jessica Valenti (North Reading, Mass.) saw her shot bang off the crossbar less than a minute later.

Roger Williams finally broke through in the second half when Hannah Noel (Adams, Mass.) slipped a pass to Mariah Kaiser (Portsmouth, R.I.) who dribbled in and fired a shot that clanged off the post and into the net for the game's first goal.

The Cougars wasted little time in responding when Emily Braun (Irvington, N.Y.) setup Lucia Pantuosco (Somers, Conn.) for the equalizer less than 20 seconds later.

Nine minutes later, however, the Hawks took the lead for good when Julie Lowenstein (Malta, N.Y.) fed Katie Lydon (Riverside, R.I.) for her team-leading fourth marker of the season.

Reigning Commonwealth Coast Conference defensive player of the week Stephanie Jacques (Burlington, Vt.) made just two saves in earning her fifth win of the season, while Cougar backstop Gabby Paolini (North Potomac, Md.) turned aside five shots in defeat.

Roger Williams will play host to another NEWMAC school next Thursday when they host MIT, while Clark is back in action on Saturday with a road contest at Worcester State.

- Release courtesy of the Clark University Sports Information Department