BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Lacrosse made it back-to-back Commonwealth Coast Conference Championships by holding off Endicott College, 12-7 in the CCC Championship game at a gusty Bayside Field on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Hawks clinch their third conference crown in program, repeating as champions for the first time.
 
It was the tenth all-time battle of the birds in the CCC title game and sixth consecutive meeting between the rivals and while the Gulls still have the edge all-time, 7-3, RWU has won the last two meetings after winning last spring, 14-8. The team also set a program record for wins in a season in the contest, advancing to 16-1 and are unblemished in their ten contests against conference foes in the regular and postseason combined.
 
Hannah Goodwin (Bradford, Mass.) completed a tremendous couple of games in the CCC Tournament, making ten stops against seven goals allowed to get the win and improve to 16-1. She also becomes the first Hawk to tend the net for multiple championship-winning teams with the women's lacrosse program. Lydia Akins (Edina, Minn.) certainly did her part in goal for Endicott, but a slow first quarter ultimately plagued her as she made ten saves against 12 goals against in the game, taking the loss and falling to 13-7.
 
Hawk Highlights
Lily Cunningham: 4 goals, 4 ground balls, 4 caused turnovers, 3 draw controls
Mandy Beck: 2 goals, 1 assist, 1 ground ball, 1 caused turnover
Devon Sarazin: 2 goals, 2 ground balls
Brooke McErlain: 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers, 5 draw controls
 
Hannah Goodwin: 10 saves, 7 goals allowed, 2 ground balls, 60:00 minutes in goal
 
For The Opponents
Katy Garvin: 3 goals, 1 ground ball
Alex Palermo: 2 goals
Morgan Pike: 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 ground balls, 1 caused turnover
Kiana Napolitano: 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 ground balls, 1 caused turnover
 
Lydia Akins: 10 saves, 12 goals allowed, 0 ground balls, 60:00 minutes in goal
 
How It Happened
On a blustery Bristol afternoon, it looked like Roger Williams would breeze past Endicott just as the wind was doing off the Mount Hope Bay in the first quarter. It took until nearly the ten-minute mark for the Hawks to open the scoring in the chippy, foul-filled affair, as it was at that point that Lily Cunningham (Melrose, Mass.) did the deed. She worked all the way around the Endicott defense before ripping one past Lydia Akins (Edina, Minn.) and into the upper-right 90 for the contest's opening score. Less than a minute later, Cunningham used the other corner, this time on a free-position opportunity to make the lead a pair. RWU added another shortly thereafter. Devon Sarazin (Falmouth, Maine) got a free-position chance, got hacked as the first of the game's seven yellow cards, and eight total cards, was distributed. Then on Sarazin's second opportunity she went to the left side of the net for the host's third score in less than 120 seconds. The guests took a timeout, but it only slowed Roger Williams down temporarily as they struck again at the 6:40 mark. With the Hawks on the man-advantage again, Sarazin caught a pass from Ryleigh Cavanaugh (Manchester, N.H.), pulled out a nasty spin move, and shot it into the bottom right corner to give RWU a quartet of tallies. Cavanaugh got one of her own moments later, collecting a loose ball and finding the top-right corner. The team's leading scorer, Mandy Beck (Old Saybrook, Conn.) would follow by getting in on the fun, going low for a free-position tally and while that ended the quarter's scoring, Roger Williams owned a commanding 6-0 lead, and they would make it stand.
 
The Hawks could not have dominated the opening stanza more than they did in the first quarter, putting on an offensive clinic, outshooting the guests 13-2 while collecting all seven of the draws in the frame. Defensively, they forced seven turnovers and only allowed Endicott to be successful on five of their nine clear attempts.
 
The Gulls would battle back in the second quarter. Alex Palermo (Reading, Mass.) got Endicott on the board at the 13:13 mark on a free-position goal before Katy Garvin (Mansfield, Mass.) made it back-to-back with a score off a Kiana Napolitano (Revere, Mass.) dish. But RWU had an answer from who else but Beck. She maneuvered through traffic before firing a lefty shot across the crease for her second score of the game. Moments later, Cunningham would add get the lead back to six with a score despite the hosts being in the man-disadvantage. Garvin followed with her second tally to cut the deficit to five and it looked like the visitors would get to the half down five, but it was not to be. The Hawks were clearing just before the half as a foul was called right at midfield. Kate Shultz (Portsmouth, N.H.) initiated play, by finding Beck, Beck found Karli Chapin (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), and Chapin found the back of the net going high with just 1.4 seconds on the clock as RWU lead 9-3 at the half.
 
Coming out of the break, the physicality settled down, but the sloppiness rose, especially from RWU, and the Gulls took advantage. They won the opening draw and Palermo went directly to the net, getting a feed from Morgan Pike (Shapleigh, Maine) and she found paydirt just 36 seconds into the half. Cunningham posted her fourth of the contest but then Endicott made things really interesting. A bevvy of RWU turnovers gave the guests extra chance and it was Endicott's top scorer, Pike, who finally got on the board with a free position score. Garvin got her third of the game then with 17 seconds left in the quarter, Napolitano trimmed the Roger Williams advantage to three with a man-down tally and all of a sudden, the Gulls were back in striking distance.

Endicott would get no closer however, as the Hawks had a response almost immediately to open play in the fourth. Brooke McErlain (Hampton, N.H.) found Chapin just 43 seconds into the final frame to get the lead back to four and the RWU defense did the rest, forcing eight turnovers while only allowing the visitors to get two shots off in the stanza. McErlain put the final nail in the Endicott coffin with a free-position goal with 1:45 left before the ball peacefully and fittingly rested in the stick of graduate student and two-year captain Devon Sarazin as time expired and the bench stormed the turf field, and the Roger Williams University Women's Lacrosse team defended their crown with a 12-7 victory.

What's Next
Roger Williams will advance the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year though their opponent is unknown. They will learn who they will encounter in the dance on the NCAA Selection Show to be aired on NCAA.com on Monday at 10:30 AM.