FALL RIVER, Mass. — The Roger Williams University Men's Ice Hockey team earned a hard-fought Conference of New England (CNE) victory Saturday afternoon, defeating Western New England, 2–1, at Driscoll Arena. While the Golden Bears led after the first period, the Hawks tallied two goals in the second period to secure the win.  

Western New England opened the scoring at the 9:17 mark of the first period when Mathew Fortin capitalized on a power-play opportunity, finishing unassisted to give the Golden Bears a 1–0 advantage. Despite the goal, RWU held steady and generated sustained offensive pressure throughout the opening frame.

The Hawks found their equalizer just 57 seconds into the second period. Daxton St. Hilaire (Lewiston, Maine) redirected a shot from Aidan Radic (Castle Rock, Colo.) past the goaltender, with PJ Sweeney (Chamonix, France) earning the secondary assist, knotting the game at 1–1.

Roger Williams continued to control play in the middle frame and took the lead at 10:48 of the second period when TJ Sullivan (Melrose, Mass.) fired home an unassisted goal, giving the Hawks their first lead of the afternoon. The goal stood as the eventual game-winner.

Western New England pressed in the third period, outshooting the Hawks 15-13 and earning multiple power-play chances, but RWU's penalty kill held firm. Jacob Jaslow (Tompkins Cove, N.Y.) turned aside all 15 shots he faced in the final period, finishing with 30 saves on the day to earn the win.

Roger Williams finished the contest with a 46–31 edge in shots and blocked 15 shots defensively to WNE's 10 blocks. Daxton St. Hilaire and TJ Sullivan led the Hawks offensively with a goal on eight shots each.

Roger Williams (6-11, 4-8 CNE) will host Endicott in conference play on Friday, Jan. 23, while WNE (4-12, 2-9 CNE) will travel to Curry on Friday, Jan. 23 in conference play.