BRISTOL, R.I. – In a tough, physical, defensive struggle, the Roger Williams University Men's Soccer team's offensive strikes were just enough to come-from-behind and defend Bayside Field, claiming a crucial, 2-1 victory over Commonwealth Coast Conference rival Western New England University on Friday night. As each side engaged in man-to-man conflicts throughout, it was Justin Horvath (Stratford, Conn.) who landed the finishing blow to back Jack Avellar (Orleans, Mass.) and the Hawks collective defensive effort in the win.
 
With the victory, RWU grabs their season-best fourth consecutive win to improve to 8-5-2, 5-1-0 against CCC competition. On the other side, the Golden Bears drop to 7-4-3, 3-2-1 in conference play.
 
It was an incredibly chippy contest throughout with 23 combined fouls called including two that resulted in penalty kick goals, one by Mike Milazzo (Old Lyme, Conn.) for the guests and the other by Javi Beltran (Madrid, Spain) for Roger Williams, but it was ultimately Horvath's tally that decided the outcome.
 
Avellar returned to action for the first time in nearly a month and he picked up right where he left off, making three saves and allowing just the one PK goal to earn the win in net for RWU and improve to 3-1-2. Brady Allen (Willington, Conn.) got the nod for WNE and was quite good, making five saves, despite allowing two goals and he dropped to 6-4-2 on the campaign.
 
Hawk Highlights
Justin Horvath: 1 goal (GW), 2 shots, 1 shot on goal
Javi Beltran: 1 goal, 4 shots, 3 shots on goal
Jack Wetzel: 2 shots, 1 shot on goal
 
Jack Avellar: 3 saves, 1 goal allowed, 90:00 minutes in goal
 
For The Opponents
Mike Milazzo: 1 goal, 2 shots, 2 shots on goal
Aidan Rego: 2 shots, 1 shot on goal
Matt Remillard: 1 shot, 1 shot on goal
 
Brady Allen: 5 saves, 2 goals allowed, 90:00 minutes in goal
 
 
How It Happened
Western New England opened the scoring in the tenth minute of play. Four players, two for RWU and two for WNE, got tangled in Roger Williams' defensive box. During the scrum, the Hawks were called for a foul awarding a penalty kick to the Golden Bears who went with Mike Milazzo (Old Lyme, Conn.). He shot to the low right side for his sixth goal of the season.
 
Roger Williams got it back with a PK of their own in the 27^th minute. Justin Horvath (Stratford, Conn.) was battling for the ball and as the defender tried boxing him out, Horvath got grabbed and dragged to the turf to draw the foul. RWU turned to Javi Beltran (Madrid, Spain) and he delivered with a shot into the bottom right corner for his team-best 11^th goal, evening the score.
 
The game got more and more chippy as the half continued but nonetheless, the Hawks broke the stalemate in the 32^nd minute of play. While in transition, John Fogarty (Scituate, Mass.) got the ball on the right side of the pitch. He sent a nice lead pass to Horvath who got a step on the defender. With the Golden Bears goalie, Brady Allen (Willington, Conn.) charging, Horvath took a shot that was saved but it pinballed between the two players. Luckily for the RWU, it took a friendly bounce and trickled into the left side of the net. The goal was the fourth of the season for Horvath with all of them coming in his last three games.
 
In the first half of action, the Golden Bears outshot RWU, 10-7 and received six corner kicks against none for the hosts. However, it was the Hawks who took advantage of their chances better, taking more shots on goal, 4-3, and holding the edge on the scoreboard.
 
The defenses on both sides tightened up in the second half as the teams combined for just nine shots, four of which were on frame, but neither side broke through.
 
When the dust settled, the shots were even at 13 each but RWU took more shots on goal, 7-4. WNE did receive more corner kicks, 7-3, but were also called for more fouls, 16-7.
 
What's Next
The Hawks (8-5-2) will make the short trip up to Providence to dual Johnson & Wales (9-3-0) in their final non-conference game of the season against the Wildcats on Monday at 4:00 PM.
 
Meanwhile, the Golden Bears (7-4-3) will make the trip back down to southeast Rhode Island on Wednesday to faceoff against Salve Regina (9-4-1) at 7:00 PM.