BRISTOL, R.I. – It was their first official game in 667 days but it boiled down to just five minutes as the Roger Williams University Field Hockey team held off Mount Holyoke College, 3-2, on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Bayside Field. Hannah Palmer (Essex Junction, Vt.) gathered a rebound before slipping the ball into the back of the goal to give the Hawks the advantage before Callie Flanagan (Wenham, Mass.) made a huge stop with 15 seconds remaining to clinch the season opening victory.
 
With the win, the Hawks improve to 1-0 on the season while the Lyons drop to 0-1.
 
Maggie McCarthy (Worcester, Mass.) scored her first collegiate goal while Morgan Foley (Hanover, Mass.) also pitched in with a score for the Hawks. On the other side, Kass Lawrence (Holyoke, Mass.) proved to be a menace scoring a pair of goals for Mount Holyoke.
 
Flanagan was solid in the cage facing six shots on goal making three saves while allowing two goals to earn the win making her 1-0 on the season. It also brought her career win total to 18, just one behind Mya Lunn atop the program leaderboard for most career wins.
 
On the other side, the Hawks applied constant offensive pressure on Lyons goalie Rachel Katzenberg (Reistertown, Md.) who did her job making 11 saves though she did allow a trio of goals to take the loss and fall to 0-1.
 
Hawk Highlights
Hannah Palmer: 1 goal (GW), 5 shots, 3 shots on goal
Morgan Foley: 1 goal, 3 shots, 3 shots on goal
Maggie McCarthy: 1 goals, 3 shots, 2 shots on goal
Taylor Woodbury: 1 defensive save
 
Callie Flanagan: 3 saves, 2 goals allowed, 60:00 minutes in goal
 
For the Opponents
Kass Lawrence: 2 goals, 2 shots, 2 shots on goal
Phoebe Aaronson: 1 assist, 4 shots, 1 shot on goal
Margaret Robb: 6 shots, 2 shots on goal
 
Rachel Katzenberg: 11 saves, 3 goals allowed, 60:00 minutes in goal
 
How it Happened
The critical score in this one was Hannah Palmer's (Essex Junction, Vt.) game-winner in the 55^th minute. She brought the ball down the right side and got in on the right side of the cage and fired a shot that Rachel Katzenberg (Reistertown, Md.) saved. However, the rebound came right back to her and with Katzenberg now out of position, Palmer was easily able to slip the ball past her and into the back left corner of the goal to lift the Hawks to the win.  
 
Earlier on, it was Mount Holyoke who got on the board first in this the third minute. Mollee Malboeuf (Fitchburg, Mass.) gather the ball off a Mount Holyoke penalty corner, and slid the ball to Margaret Robb (Summit, N.J.) who flicked a high shot toward the net that was easily knocked down by Callie Flanagan (Wenham, Mass.). However, the rebound deflected off her and to the right post where Kass Lawrence (Holyoke, Mass.) was camped out for the opening score.
 
From there, RWU proceeded to take the lead with a pair of goals, the first coming courtesy of Maggie McCarthy (Worcester, Mass.) in the 27^th minute. Kelly Doherty (Mansfield, Mass.) shoveled a pass to McCarthy on the top right side of the shooting circle. She stepped inside the arc and slapped a long shot past the goalie and into the bottom right corner of the goal.
 
In the 36^th minute, Roger Williams had a chance to take the lead as a penalty in the circle rewarded them with a penalty stroke for Cate Delaney (Gloucester, Mass.). She shot it to the left but Katzenberg dove to her right to make the stop and keep the score even for the time being.
 
The Hawks would end up grabbing the advantage in the 40^th minute, once again off a penalty corner play. Doherty initiated play with a pass to Amelia Monahan (Bristol, N.H.) who blasted a shot from the top right of the circle that Morgan Foley (Hanover, Mass.) redirected past the keeper and into the cage.
 
The Lyons got the equalizer in the 48^th minute and once again it was courtesy of Lawrence. Coming out of a penalty corner, Phoebe Aaronson (Mountain View, Calif.) got the ball and brought it in on the left side of the cage. This drew out Callie Flanagan (Wenham, Mass.) and she slipped a pass to across the net to the waiting Lawrence off the right post for another easy goal.
 
That would prove to be fruitless, however, as the Hawks were able to take the lead just over six minutes later and then survived a flurry of penalty corner chances late to escape with the win.
 
What's Next
The Hawks with return to action on Wednesday, September 8^th matchup hosting the University of Saint Joseph's. Start time is set for 4:00 PM.