BRISTOL, R.I. - After an abbreviated, yet undefeated regular season, the Roger Williams University Women's Lacrosse team hosts Endicott College in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship game on Saturday afternoon. The first-seeded Hawks enter postseason play seeking their second CCC title after winning the championship in 2016. Due to institutional COVID-19 testing protocols, the Hawks wound up receiving a first-round bye to advance directly to the championship game where they meet second-seeded Endicott.
 
"I am extremely proud of this team and give a lot of the credit to our amazing leadership who continue to push our team to be better every single day," said Head Coach Jen Fox-Sargent. "It has been wild ride this past year and I knew once our time came to actually play and show our stuff that our girls would truly shine!"
 
The Hawks finished their truncated regular season and grabbed the top seed with a perfect 5-0 record (5-0 CCC), good for the team's best five-game start in program history. Meanwhile, the Gulls also went undefeated in conference play in the regular season, finishing 6-0 (6-1 overall) but dropped to the second seed by way of a tiebreaker.
 
"As a team, we have really learned to appreciate all the small wins throughout this crazy journey of a season so far," Fox-Sargent said. "We've realized it's easy to get caught up in the big picture and just think about our ultimate goal of winning a CCC Championship, and ultimately moving onto the NCAA tournament. However, we have all grounded ourselves in appreciating all the 'moments' more than ever before. Practices, rides on the bus, banter with teammates, film sessions, small meals together, and game days all carry so much more weight to us than ever before. We've learned first-hand how quickly the game and family we love can be taken away from you and that has us appreciating this postseason even more! It means the absolute world to us that we get to continue playing the sport we love with our Hawk family! Every extra day from here on out is a gift and we hope to make the most of each and every day we're given."
 
For The Hawks
Roger Williams boasts perhaps the most balanced offensive attack in the CCC . Despite only playing five games, they saw eight different players record double-digit points, and ten players averaging at least one goal per game on the season. Their balanced approach has paid dividends as they eclipsed the 20-goal mark in each of their games and average 21.20 goals per game, the best in the conference and second-best in all of NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse.
 
They are led offensively by senior Lauren Flahive (Foxborough, Mass.) who leads the team in points (22) and goals (15). Second-year attack Ryleigh Cavanaugh (Manchester, N.H.) is the team's top playmaker with ten assists to go with 11 goals while fellow sophomore Lily Cunningham (Melrose, Mass.) adds scoring punch with 14 goals on the season.
 
"I believe that our depth chart on the offensive end has contributed to our success and has only made us stronger as a whole," Fox-Sargent said. "This group continues to push each other at practice, and it shows on the field come game day. We have so many threats on the offensive end because our defense does not shy away from making them better at practice. Once down on attack, our girls have grown significantly in their lax IQ, patience, and discipline especially when it comes to playing with a 90-second possession clock. We are very proud of the number of shooters we have had each game so far as well as how many have stepped up in assisting their teammates."
 
On the defensive end RWU has remained stout, averaging just 3.80 goals against per game, the top mark in the CCC and second in Division III. A large part of their success has stemmed from their ability to limit the number of scoring opportunities for their opponents allowing just 12.8 shots against per game with only 65.6% of those shots being on net. They have also forced a huge number of turnovers forcing 22.6 per game. Their top defender has been Kate Schultz (Portsmouth, N.H.) who leads the team in caused turnovers (9) and ground balls (12).  
 
"Our defense has really stepped up this season and has even adjusted to COVID-related issues in big ways," Fox-Sargent commented. "I know that we have put up a lot of goals in our games so far but the fact that we were tied for the 1 seed and it came down to goals against speaks to the effort and success of our defensive unit. Without them, we do not have the ball down our offensive end. It is because of their defensive grit and hustle plays that allow those goals to take place down the other end of the field."
 
For The Gulls
Like the Hawks, the Gulls rank among the top teams in the country on both sides of the field. In their seven games on the season, they have averaged 20.14 goals per game, the second most in the CCC and fifth in the nation. Ten different players have recorded double-digit points on the season for Endicott and 11 players average one or more goal per contest.
 
Endicott is led by Maya Feigenbaum (West Hartford, Conn.) and Katie Wagner (Brewster, N.Y.). Feigenbaum is the team's top goal scorer with 21 on the season, good for sixth in the conference. Wagner, on the other hand, initiates the offense as she leads the CCC with 22 assists to go with seven goals this spring. The Hawks will also need to keep track of Kiana Napolitano (Revere, Mass.) and Morgan Pike (Shapleigh, Maine). Napolitano is the most balanced member of the Endicott attack with 28 points on 14 goals and 14 assists while Pike has 26 points on the season with 16 goals.
 
Defensively, the Gulls are eighth in the country and second in the CCC allowing 4.43 goals per game. In addition to leading the Gulls in goals, Feigenbaum has also corralled the most ground balls on the season for Endicott with 17 while also causing eight turnovers. Gabriella Prisco (West Haven, Conn.) paces the Gulls with nine caused turnovers this spring.  
 
 
In Goal
The matchup in net will likely be Alexandra Rose (East Lyme, Conn.) opposite Hannah Goodwin (Bradford, Mass.). While both goalkeepers have not faced a ton of pressure this season thanks to their superb defensive units, Rose and Goodwin rank first and second respectively in the conference in save percentage among goalies with at least 150 minutes in net. Rose owns a .578 save percentage, the 12^th best in the country, with a 6.02 GAA and has tended the Gulls to a 5-1 record on the season. On the other side, Goodwin owns the lower save percentage at .516, but also the lower goals-against average at 5.16. She is also undefeated in her four starts in net for the Hawks. RWU also features Addie Di Scipio (Falls Church, Va.) who leads the CCC with a 1.91 GAA and 66.7 save percentage across 125:37 minutes this spring.
 
Previous Meetings
Due to COVID-19, the RWU Women's Lacrosse team has not played Endicott since 2019 when they played the Gulls in the CCC Championship falling in overtime, 11-10.
 
How To Follow Along
Due to CCC COVID-19 protocols, there are still no spectators permitted at any conference athletic events. However, you can still follow along by watching the live stream video or live stats.

VIDEO: https://rwuhawks.com/sports/2013/3/5/wlax_live_video.aspx
STATS: https://rwuhawks.com/sidearmstats/wlax/summary