NEWARK, Del. – The Roger Williams University men's lacrosse team needed a strong special team showing to defeat the Kean University Cougars, 16-15, at Delaware Stadium at the University of Delaware.
Roger Williams was out shot 72-30 in the contest, with 38 of Kean's shots going on cage to the Hawks 25. Roger Williams saw
Aaron D'Aversa (Sea Cliff, N.Y.) made 23 saves, for a save percentage of .605. The Hawks had 15 turnovers in the contest, but were able to complete 19-21 clear attempts, with 30 ground balls to Cougars 43 ground balls. Kean also won the faceoff battle 22-13. Roger Williams did go 2-for-4 in extra man opportunities.
Matt Hemmert (Braintree, Mass.) scored four goals for the Hawks, with
Ryan Vendetti (Farmington, Conn.) adding four points with a pair of goals and two assists. The Hawks saw
Riley Spellman (Manchester, N.H.) add three goals and an assist.
Kyle Zirn (Chester, N.H.) had five caused turnovers in the contest, with
Tyler Zanini (Hopkinton, Mass.) earning a pair of caused turnovers, both had three ground balls, with
David Rizzo (Methuen, Mass.) leading with five in the contest, going 10-for-23 in faceoffs.
Kean scored the first three goals of the game with Dylan Johnson, Nick Thorne, and Connor Batjer opening up the contest, but the Hawks responded quickly with goals by
Kevin Murphy (Ramsey, N.J.) and Spellman, cutting the deficit down to one. Batjer then scored again with 4:06 remaining in the opening quarter, but the Hawks and Kean traded goals to a 5-4 lead for the Cougars, but Kean struck twice to take a 7-4 lead with
Jack Kester (Londonderry, N.H.) scoring in the closing seconds of the opening frame to cut the lead down to two entering the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Hawks leveled the score in the second quarter, with Vendetti and
Brian Gazard (Ashland, Mass.) opening up the quarter, to level the score at seven with 7:59 remaining in the opening half.
Matt Halpin (Hanover, Mass.) then scored on a man up opportunity to take their first lead of the contest, with 4:26 remaining in the half. The Hawks then scored the next two goals including the first of the second half, 1:53 into the third, capping off a six-point run.
Anton Updale added a goal for Kean, before the Hawks rattled off another three goals to expand the lead to 13-8, but Kean then scored three of the next five, cutting the lead to four, but Batjer again scored with 10 seconds remaining in the third, with the Hawks taking a 15-12 lead into the final frame.
Kean scored the first two goals of the quarter with Anthony Porter and Dylan Johnson scoring, cutting the lead to one. Kean had nine shots on goal in the quarter, but D'Aversa was able to help the Roger Williams defense, hold on, with help from a goal by Hemmert to seal the matchup.
"First off, thank you to the University of Delaware for being great hosts the last two days. This one came down to special teams and goaltending down the stretch," Coach Gould said. "(Aaron) D'Aversa made some timely saves. Our man up scored a couple big goals against one of the best man down units in the country, and once again our man down defense stepped up big. Kean is a very talented and well coached team. I wish them the best as they head into conference play."
Roger Williams (6-2, 0-0 CCC) will face Eastern Connecticut State on Tuesday, Mar. 19 at 4:00 pm. The Hawks will then begin Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play on Wednesday, Mar. 27 at 7:00 pm.
