BRISTOL, R.I. – The offense, led by junior forward Bianca Robbins (Johnston, R.I.), reigned supreme as the Roger Williams University Women's Soccer team rolled past Rhode Island College, 8-0, in the opening match of the Rhode Island Cup on Friday evening. The Hawks netted eight goals, their most in a single contest since matching that number against Emmanuel College on Sep. 24, 2014.
 
With the win, the Hawks improve to 2-0 on the season while the Anchorwomen fall to 0-2.
 
As a team, the Hawks have scored 11 goals in their first two games of the season, the most in program history across their first two contests.
 
Individually, Robbins notched a quartet of goals, the most by a Hawk in a single game since Mariah Kaiser '16 had the same amount in against Nichols College on October 21, 2015. This brought her goal total to six across the Hawks first two games of the season, a number that has never been reached by any player in so few games in program history.
 
The Hawks offensive dominance was not limited to Robins either, as freshman Rachel Oster (Scituate, R.I.) contributed a trio of assists and Leah Yucius (Duxbury, Mass.) and Raffaella Brunetti (North Providence, R.I.) each added a goal and a helper in the blowout.
 
In goal, the Hawks employed both Morgan Strassburg (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Sami Brody (Clinton, Mass.). Strassburg handled the first half facing just two shots on net and stopping both to earn the win and improve to 1-0 in goal on the season. In the second half, Brody stopped the lone shot on goal she faced.
 
Meanwhile the Anchorwomen also employed a timeshare in goal. Reagan Kerecz (Tolland, Conn.) and took the loss to fall to 0-2 on the season. She faced a bevy of shots and made six saves but allowed six goals as well. Maya Benedict (Tempe, Ariz.) began the second half in goal and did not fare any better as she allowed two goals but also made two saves before departing with an apparent injury.
 
Hawk Highlights
Bianca Robbins: 4 goals, 4 shots, 4 shots on goal
Rachel Oster: 3 assists
Raffaella Brunetti: 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots, 4 shots on goal
Leah Yucius: 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 shot, 1 shot on goal
Taryn Martel: 1 goal, 3 shots, 2 shots on goal
 
Morgan Strassburg: 2 saves, 0 goals allowed, 90:00 minutes in goal
Sami Brody: 1 save, 0 goals allowed, 90:00 minutes in goal
 
For The Opponents
Serena Forte: 2 shots, 1 shot on goal
Mackenzie Parker-Christou: 2 shots, 1 shot on goal
 
Reagan Kerecz: 6 saves, 6 goals allowed, 69:10 minutes in goal
Maya Benedict: 2 saves, 2 goals allowed, 20:50 minutes in goal
 
How It Happened
The scoring came in bunches in the first half for Roger Williams and it was none other than Bianca Robbins (Johnston, R.I.) who got the party started. In the eighth minute, Kelly Yadoff (Wyckoff, N.J.) threaded a perfect through pass down the middle of the field that Robbins chased down just beyond the 18-yard box. She gathered it and dribbled in before she fired a shot on the lower-right side, directly past Reagan Kerecz (Tolland, Conn.) for the score.
 
A few moments later, in the 11^th minute, the Hawks struck again, this time courtesy of Leah Yucius (Duxbury, Mass.). After Rachel Oster (Scituate, R.I.) collected the ball on the left side of the field, she quickly blazed past the defender and took the ball all the way in to the top-right corner of the six-yard box. This drew out the goalkeeper out and left the net wide open for Yucius who received Oster's crossing pass just off the right post and she tapped it home from about three yards away for her second goal of the season.
 
Mere seconds later, Robbins got on the board again. Once again, Oster got a step on her defender down the left side and turned the corner at the top-right intersection of the 18-yard box. She sent a cross to Robbins who got free for a one-on-one chance against the keeper and beat her with a rocket at medium height on the right side for her second score of the contest.
 
Robbins added a third score in the 13^th minute. After Sarina Olson (Bristol, R.I.) sent a long feed down the right side, Yucius corralled the ball at the top-left corner of the 18-yard box. She sent a beautiful crossing pass past the keeper to Robbins who was waiting right in front of the net for a point-blank goal.
 
Robbins wrapped up her incredible afternoon with her fourth score just 26 seconds later. Yadoff sent a pass from the middle of the field to Oster on the left sideline who used just one touch to send a terrific lead pass to Robbins. She ran it down at the top-right corner of the six-yard box and drew the goalie out before beating her with a shot on the low-right side and into the bottom-right corner of the net to give the Hawks a 5-0 advantage and wrapped up the first half scoring.
 
For RWU, the five scores in the first half were the most they have had in a half since they recorded the same number in the second half against UMass Dartmouth on October 14^th, 2014.
 
In the frame, the Hawks fired 17 shots in the first with 11 shots on goal while the Anchorwomen managed five shots and two on net.
 
Roger Williams added on in the second half beginning in the 56^th minute. Tayla Salome (Lincoln, R.I.) sent a long through-pass that was run down by sophomore Raffaella Brunetti (North Providence, R.I.) just off the top-left corner of the six-yard box. She crossed-up the defender and sent a crossing pass past the goalie from the right side of the six-yard box to senior Taryn Martel (Bellingham, Mass.) who put it in with her right foot for the first goal of her collegiate career.
 
Ten minutes later in the 66^th minute, it was Brunetti's turn to get in on the action as she got a step on her defender and collected a long through-pass from Maggie Hickey (Greenville, R.I.) before firing a shot low-left side from the top of the 18-yard box for her first collegiate goal.
 
A third Hawk notched their first collegiate goal in the 71^st minute, and this time it was Ariana Montero (Milford, Conn.). She gathered the ball around the midfield and then sliced right through the RIC defense by beating a couple of defenders before blasting medium-height shot to the right and into the back of the net to conclude the scoring.
 
Roger Williams finished the game with 25 shots with 16 of them on goal against 11 shots for Rhode Island College and three on net.

Coach's Corner
We came out of the blocks shooting and did what we should have done in the previous game. We put the ball in the back of the net. The plan was to put the game away as soon as possible because we were playing back-to-back games in a tournament format.

Matches do not usually go to plan, but today it did. We have players who have restrictions and are limited to how much time they can play, so we built that into the script, and everyone got their lines correct today. These first two games have allowed to us to start on the front foot and break in the newer, younger, inexperienced collegiate players.

If we can keep injury free and stay away from health issues, we should be able to compete with every team we play. The two home games in a row to start the season, have allowed us to find our feet and work our way into the season and prepare for the extremely competitive schedule we have in front of us to come this fall.

We play a strong schedule, so there could be some ups and downs. But right now, we are taking the right path. Considering we haven't been together too long and have more new players than experienced, the squad is coming together nicely.

We are making mistakes and are learning new things, and this can only help as we grow together. If we keep a positive mindset and take one game at a time, we will see progress and the results will follow. 

What's Next
The Hawks continue Rhode Island Cup action as they dual Johnson and Wales for a showdown in Providence. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 PM.