BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Men's Lacrosse team opened Conference of New England (CNE) play on Wednesday evening, defeating the Fighting Scots of Gordon College, 11-3, on Bayside Field.
The Hawks outshot the Scots, 54-23, while placing 32 of their shots on frame, to the Fighting Scots' 13. The Hawks also won the battle in clears, completing 19-of-23 attempts, to Gordon's 15-of-30. Roger Williams also took the ground ball battle 41-29, but was unable to win the faceoff battle, going 4-for-18 in the area.
Carter Shelton (Castle Rock, Colo.) led the squad with four points, scoring two goals and dishing out a pair of assists, with three ground balls and a caused turnover. Caleb McKeown (Plymouth, Mass.) also scored two goals with eight ground balls, with two caused turnovers, while Matt Kennedy (Cumberland, Maine) and Reece Moore (Marblehead, Mass.) also tallied a pair of goals each.
Defensively, Kyle Zirn (Chester, N.H.) led the Hawks with three caused turnovers and nine ground balls while Logan Dudley (Jericho, Vt.) moved to 2-2 on the season, making 10 saves, while only allowing three goals.
Ryan Long led the Fighting Scots in points, with a pair of assists, while Ryan Arthur, Caden Lake, and Kennedy Opie each had a goal. Aidan Walsh went 14-for-18 in faceoffs, while picking up nine ground balls, with Jackson Wright earning a caused turnover and six ground balls. CJ Veader made 21 saves on the night, but allowed 11 goals to squeak by in the loss, falling to 1-4.
The Hawks struck first, 2:02 into the contest, when Harrison Steffens (Fairfield, Conn.) found the back of the net off a rip. The Hawks' then saw Brady Lee (Mattapoisett, Mass.) dish out an assist, finding Kennedy for his 10th goal of the season, 2:50 later. With 2:03 remaining in the game, the Hawks saw Shelton find Connor Russell (West Hartford, Conn.) for his second goal of the season, taking a 3-0 lead into the second quarter.
Kennedy found twine for the second time in the contest, 4:51 into the frame, while Moore followed to put the Hawks up 5-0. McKeown tallied his first of the day, with a goal with 2:21 remaining in the first half. The Fighting Scots were able to avoid the first-half shutout, scoring with 21 seconds remaining, when Long found Lake for the first goal on a man-up opportunity.
Leading 6-1 after the half, Shelton struck again off a helper from Drew LaChapelle (Andover, Mass.). The Hawks then saw Lee convert a man-up opportunity to take an 8-1 lead. Opie converted his 10th goal of the season, with 3:53 remaining in the third, cutting the deficit to six. In the fourth the Hawks were able to maintain their lead and expand to eight with a goal by Shelton with 57 seconds remaining in the contest, closing out the scoring.
Roger Williams (3-6, 1-0 CNE) will travel to face Endicott on Saturday, Mar. 28 in Beverly. The Hawks will then host Wentworth on Tuesday, Mar. 31 at 7:00 pm, and will round the week out at Western New England on Friday, Apr. 3.
