Women’s Soccer powers through to NCAA Second Round

Box Score CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Junior Mariah Kaiser (Portsmouth, R.I.) scored twice in helping the Roger Williams University Women's Soccer team defeat Bowdoin College, 3-0, in a first round game of the NCAA Tournament held on Saturday afternoon at MIT. The Hawks (18-2-4) will square off with the host Engineers on Sunday, Nov. 16 at 1:00 p.m. The Polar Bears, meanwhile, saw their season end with a final record of 12-5-0.

Roger Williams wasted little time in testing the Bowdoin backline as a corner kick from sophomore Kristen Casey (East Longmeadow, Mass.) after two minutes expired grazed freshman goalie Rachel Stout's (Lakeville, Minn.) finger tips and was collected by junior Taylor Provost (Peabody, Mass.) whose attempt hit the crossbar. The Hawks kept the pressure on as they generated eight shots, three of which were turned away by Stout while two were blocked by the Bowdoin defense, but they could not find the back of the net.

The Polar Bears slowly built some momentum courtesy of two shots from junior Kiersten Turner (Gorham, Maine), although one was stopped by a Roger Williams defender, and a try by sophomore Taylor Haist (Montgomery Village, Md.) that went wide with just under 20 minutes on the clock. Four minutes later, junior Jessica Valenti (North Reading, Mass.) ended the stalemate when she stole a pass outside the box, dribbled it in and booted it to the far corner.

Bowdoin quickly produced shots on net by Turner and sophomore Abby Hammerl (Wenham, Mass.) but both tries were stopped by freshman goalie Sydney Martin (Scarborough, Maine) while senior Kaley Nelson's (Vienna, Va.) attempt sailed over the net. Despite the flurry of activity, Roger Williams increased its advantage to 2-0 in the 39th minute when Kaiser sent a strike past #14 for her 17th marker of the season. The Polar Bears' final attempt to get on the board before the intermission started on senior Jenna DiCicco's (Lincoln, Mass.) corner kick with 3:25 to go. Freshman Nikki Wilson (Shrewsbury, Mass.) gathered the ball but her shot was blocked while sophomore Julia Bottone's (Medway, Mass.) follow-up attempt was off the mark.

Bowdoin threatened to end the shutout in the 54th minute when DiCicco unleashed a shot over the middle that caused Martin to make a leaping save. On the ensuing counterattack, Provost sent a throughball towards the near side which Kaiser collected and then fired off a shot to the far right corner. Kaiser nearly completed the hat trick in the 59th and 63rd minutes but Stout denied both attempts, the latter courtesy of a diving grab.

The remainder of the game was a defensive battle despite both squads generating quality scoring opportunities. Bowdoin, however, controlled the action during the final seven minutes of regulation but their shots could not find the goal.

- Release courtesy of the MIT Sports Information Department

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Players Mentioned

#6 Kristen Casey: B; 5' 6"; Sophomore

#7 Mariah Kaiser: F; 5' 7"; Junior

#10 Taylor Provost: B; 5' 7"; Junior

#8 Jessica Valenti: MF; 5' 5"; Junior

#1 Sydney Martin: GK; 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#6 Kristen Casey
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: B

#7 Mariah Kaiser
: 5' 7"; Junior
: F

#10 Taylor Provost
: 5' 7"; Junior
: B

#8 Jessica Valenti
: 5' 5"; Junior
: MF

#1 Sydney Martin
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: GK