BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University men's lacrosse team fell 20-10 to #19/20 Babson on Saturday afternoon in their season opener in non-conference play on Bayside Field.
 
The Hawks were out shot 63-28 in the contest, with the Beavers tallying 33 shots on cage. The Hawks had 17 successful clear attempts out of their 20 attempts, while Babson had 16 out of 20. Babson also won the ground ball battle 44-25. Babson also held a 28-5 advantage in faceoffs.
 
Aaron D'Aversa (Sea Cliff, N.Y.) played 40 minutes in relief, making eight saves while allowing eight goals in the contest, with Max Kimmel (Milford, Conn.) being the goalkeeper of record. For Babson Bryan Hanley had four saves while allowing 10 goals in the win.
 
Kevin Murphy (Ramsey, N.J.) led all Hawk players with three goals and an assist for four points, while collecting one ground ball. Matt Hemmert (Braintree, Mass.) had three points with a pair of goals in his Roger Williams debut, and Riley Spellman (Manchester, N.H.) added a pair of goals. Brian Gazard (Ashland, Mass.) and Ryan Vendetti (Farminton, Conn.) each had a goal and an assist for the Hawks in the loss.
 
On the defensive end, the Hawks' Kyle Zirn (Chester, N.H.) had a pair of caused turnovers to pair with two ground balls on the day, with James Dearborn (East Williaston, N.Y.) adding three ground balls and a caused turnover.
 
For Babson, James Turco went 15-for-16 in faceoffs, with Jared Rainville and Topher Bower each tallying seven points each on the day.
 
The Hawks struck 39 seconds into the contest with the Hawks, when Gazard blasted a shot by the Beaver goalkeeper into the back of the cage. Vendetti added added a goal shortly after, putting the Hawks up 2-0, 4:34 into the game.
 
The Beavers started rolling with 9:54 remaining in the opening quarter, when Seamus Rooney found Topher Bower for the Beavers first goal of the game. The two squads traded goals back and forth, but with 6:08 remaining in the contest the Beavers found a groove, scoring five straight goals to end the first holding a 7-4 lead over Roger Williams.
 
Babson continued their run, expanding it to 10 straight goals before the Hawks saw Halpin pot one after a pass from Vendetti. The Beavers responded with another goal before the half, taking a 13-5 advantage into the half.
 
In the third the Hawks were able to cut the lead to nine but Babson was able to maintain a double-digit lead through the rest of the contest, holding on for the win.
 
"I first off want to thank our facilities crew for allowing this game to not only start on time, but happen after this morning's snow in Rhode Island," said Coach Kevin Gould. "Babson certainly was terrific at the faceoff and controlled the majority of possession throughout the game. As often the case, the ground ball battle today, dictated the result."
 
Roger Williams (0-1, 0-0 CCC) will face off against Salve Regina on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 4:00 pm in Newport.  The Hawks will then host Lasell on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 1:00 pm.