SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Roger Williams University Women's Lacrosse team won its Commonwealth Coast Conference opener with a commanding 13-2 win over Western New England University Wednesday afternoon.
 
Hannah Jarvis logged the first goal of the game for Western New England with a player-up goal two minutes into the start. Western New England's lead held for the next eight minutes until Emily Stoeppel (Brookline, Conn.) tied things up off of a pass from Delana Erickson (Concord, N.H.). Stoeppel would notch another score at the 11:26 mark to give RWU the lead.
 
Kristen Breen used a goal with just over four minutes left in the half to knot the game back up at two apiece. The Hawks would end the period on a 4-0 run with goals by Erickson, Stoeppel, Ashley Warren (Wilmington, Mass.) and Maeve Gills (Duxbury, Mass.) for a 6-2 halftime lead.
 
In the second half, Roger Williams ran away with the game, outscoring the Golden Bears 7-0 in the period. In addition, the Hawks played stout defense over the course of the half, forcing 13 WNE turnovers while holding the Bears to only nine shots in the period.  Stoeppel scored twice in the half, while Gillis, Erickson, Shayne Rivard (Easton, Conn.), Devon Sarazin (Falmouth, Maine), Isabella Blessington (Harpswell, Maine) all added goals for the Hawks.
 
Stoeppel finished the game with five goals for the Hawks in addition to five ground balls and four draw controls. Hannah Lamothe had three caused turnovers and one ground ball while Madi Drain (Waterboro, Maine) finished with five ground balls and two caused turnovers. Lydia Nelson (Center Moriches, N.Y.) made a season-high 15 saves in the game.
 
Roger Williams (5-3, 1-0 CCC) will host Curry College Saturday in the team's first home CCC game of the season.