Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Soccer team posted a 1-0 win over Lasell College Monday evening in a non-conference tilt.
 
Roger Williams improves to 5-0-0 all-time against the Lasers with the victory, dating back to the 1993 season.
 
The Hawks jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just three minutes into the game. Sinead Hanley (Quincy, Mass.) secured possession of the ball in the middle of the box. The ball got away from her and away from the Laser goalkeeper as well. The ball rolled towards the goal, with a Laser defender trying to clear the ball away. Unfortunately for her, the kick crossed the line just before she could attempt to clear it, giving Hanley her first career goal.
 
Lasell had two close calls to score not too far after. Casey Meissner (Sandwich, Mass.) sent a through pass up the middle to Melissa Vasquez (Pawtucket, R.I.) in the ninth minute. Vasquez booted a shot but was stopped by Hawk keeper Alexis Wright (Bennington, Vt.). Then two minutes later, Meissner had a chance of her own with a shot from the right side. Her attempt just bounced off the left post back towards Wright, who was able to secure the ball before a second shot could be taken.
 
In the 20th minute, the Lasers had another opportunity to tie the game but failed to capitalize. Carly Zdanek (Newton, N.J.) had a one-on-one chance with the keeper after a clearing attempt for the Hawks bounced off of Zdanek and back towards the goal. Zdanek made her way into the box, but tripped and fell before she could get a shot off.
 
The Hawk defense picked up in the second half, limiting the offensive chances for Lasell. The Lasers found it difficult to put a clean shot on net. Though the Hawks were limited in their chances to score, the defense effort was still enough to preserve the shutout.
 
Wright had a season-high nine saves in the win tonight. Sarah LeClair (Belchertown, Mass.) had two stops for Lasell.
 
"Tonight, we just gutted it out, it wasn't pretty it wasn't much fun, we were brave and did all the little things that winning teams do when you are not playing well or at not at your best," said Head Coach Tim Moody. "But the best part was the result, we beat a very good team that plays in the NCAA Tournament every season. They are used to winning their conference, scoring lots of goals and winning lots of games, so if you take that into consideration it was a massive win.
 
"It is always good to see a positive work ethic on these days and team defense when you are not playing to your potential, I think the opponent has to be given credit for that and stopping us playing the way we want. Getting the early goal also put us in a good position as they had to attack and that allowed us to counter which did.
 
"We showed we can defend and stop a team if needed. We were mentally tough tonight and our goalkeeper did her part as well, she made several key saves to keep our lead and perhaps win the game for us. So, although we didn't do much right, we also didn't do much wrong, a strange game but a credit to the players.
 
"Tonight, was our first game with cold weather and we were able to overcome it without injuries or suspensions which means we can now focus on our next conference game which we play tomorrow as well as the remaining two home games."

Roger Williams (9-6-2) will head to Western New England University tomorrow while Lasell (8-5-0) hosts Norwich on Wednesday.