BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams Men's Lacrosse team defeated Emmanuel on Wednesday afternoon, 16-9, for their first win of the 2025 season.
 
Hawks goalkeeper Aaron D'Aversa recorded 11 saves in the win, while Emmanuel's keeper Colby Enos tallied 12 of his own. For the Hawks defense, David Rizzo (Methuen, Mass.) collected 14 ground balls to pace the men. Alex Burrill (Scituate, Mass.) added four groundballs and three caused turnovers on defense as well. On offense, Eric Brooks (Milford, Mass.) led the way with five goals in the victory. Jack Kester (Londonderry, N.H.) added a goal of his own, to go along with four assists, for a total of five points. Matt Kennedy (Cumberland, Maine) added three goals of his own in the win. For the opponent, Braxton Bragg, Cooper Mehlhorn and Ryan Etzo each netted two goals in the loss. Melhorn added two assists as well, for a total of four points.
 
Roger Williams and Emmanuel had 20 and 30 clears respectively, with the Hawks converting on 16 of their attempts, while Halo's converted 19. In the ground ball department, Roger Williams led the way with 46 to the opponent's 30. The Hawks also controlled the faceoff battle, 21-8.
 
Emmanuel opened up the scoring, rattling off three straight unanswered goals over the course of the first five minutes of the game. Matt Kennedy and David Rizzo quickly respond for the Hawks, each scoring a goal less than 10 seconds apart. Emmanuel would respond, expanding their lead back by two following a Ryan Etzo goal to conclude the first frame.
 
Eric Brooks would open up the scoring in the second quarter, tallying his first goal of the five he would finish with. David Rizzo would put in another for the Hawks, tying things up at four, just 30 seconds into the quarter. Emmanuel would go on to score the next three in the battle, expanding their lead to 7-4 with just three minutes to play before half. Keenan Pindar III (Chester, Conn.) would drop one in the for the Hawks just before the half to cut the deficit to two.
 
Out of the half it was all Hawks, as Jack Kester would find the back of the net to make it 7-6. Cole Cloney would respond for the Halo's to make it 8-6, however the Hawks would fire off 10 unanswered goals, four of which came from Eric Brooks. Kester would record the assist for four of the 10 Hawk goals as well. Samuel Yan would drop in the last goal of the game for the opponent, however the damage had already been done, as Roger Williams would secure the 16-9 victory.
 
Roger Williams (1-3) will remain at home on Saturday, Mar. 1 to take on Emerson. Following Emerson, the team will hit the road to take on Wheaton, followed by a trip to NH to battle Rivier.