SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Five different players netted three goals for the Roger Williams University Women's Lacrosse team as they put the finishing touches on their second-consecutive undefeated season in Commonwealth Coast Conference play by roaring past Western New England University at Golden Bear Stadium on Wednesday night. Despite already being locked into the top seed in the conference tournament and therefore having nothing to play for, Hawks played like they had everything to play for, rattling off 17 unanswered goals in a stretch that spanned from the first quarter to the third on their way to the win.
 
With the victory, RWU finishes the regular season at an eye-popping 14-1 and have not dropped a game since their season-opener. They are also a perfect 8-0 in CCC play and they have won 14-straight regular season games against conference foes dating back to 2019. The Golden Bears, meanwhile, fall to 12-5, 6-2 in conference play and they will be the third seed in the CCC Tournament beginning on Saturday.
 
As she had in each of the previous 14 games this season, Hannah Goodwin (Bradford, Mass.) got the start in net and made five saves against six goals allowed to improve to 14-1 on the year. Faith Graveline (North Attleboro, Mass.) got the nod for WNE, and she made ten saves but also allowed 19 goals to fall to 11-5.
 
Hawk Highlights
Nikki Norton: 3 goals, 3 assists
Brooke McErlain: 3 goals, 2 assists, 2 ground balls, 2 draw controls
Ryleigh Cavanaugh: 3 goals, 1 ground ball, 13 draw controls
Madi Drain: 7 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
 
Hannah Goodwin: 5 saves, 6 goals allowed, 1 ground ball, 60:00 minutes in goal
 
For The Opponents
Hannah Jarvis: 2 goals, 1 assist
Kylie Buchanan: 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 caused turnovers
Samantha Vitka: 1 goal, 2 caused turnovers, 7 draw controls
Liz Mazza: 1 goal, 1 ground ball, 2 draw controls
 
Faith Graveline: 10 saves, 19 goals allowed, 6 ground balls, 60:00 minutes in goal
 
How It Happened
Western New England would get this game's opening score just 25 seconds into the contest as Hannah Jarvis (Westfield, Mass.) located Madisyn Crotta (West Haven, Conn.) for the goal. It would be all Roger Williams from there however, as the Hawks rallied to the tune of 17 unanswered tallies. Brooke McErlain (Hampton, N.H.) got the party started with a goal off an assist from Devon Sarazin (Falmouth, Maine) before she served in the distributor's role for the go-ahead score by Ryleigh Cavanaugh (Manchester, N.H.). Nikki Norton (Braintree, Mass.), Lily Cunningham (Melrose, Mass.), and Sarazin put in one apiece before McErlain and Norton each got their second tallies of the quarter to give RWU a 7-1 lead after one.
 
The second frame would look much like a majority of the first. Cavanaugh notched an unassisted goal then Cunningham got her second of the game on the man-advantage. Mandy Beck (Old Saybrook, Conn.) and Karli Chapin (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) got in on the fun to get the game into running clock just over 21 minutes in. McErlain and Cavanaugh then put the finishing touches on their first-half hat tricks to wrap up the first half scoresheet with the guests firmly in the driver's seat, 13-1.
 
Sarazin opened the second half with a man-up goal off a pass from Norton before she wound up on the receiving end of a Beck feed to reach a trifecta of goals herself. McErlain found Sarazin for yet another tally, giving her three on the night, then Cunningham got to three of her own at the five-minute mark. Finally, 43 minutes and five seconds after they scored the game's original goal, the Golden Bears got their second with 90 seconds left in the third, but the score was nonetheless 17-2.  
 
WNE did outscore the guests, 4-2 in the fourth quarter with their scoring output highlighted by a pair from Jarvis, but it did not matter as this one was all but finished at the stanza's beginning and the Hawks put the final touches on a 19-6 win.  
 
What's Next
The next stop for Roger Williams is the postseason though their opponent is not yet determined as they are the number-one seed and receive a first-round bye. The date is, though and RWU will host the lowest surviving seed on Wednesday, May 4^th in the CCC Semifinals round.