BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University (RWU) Men's Lacrosse team picked up a key Conference of New England (CNE) victory on Wednesday evening, defeating the Bison of Nichols College, 9-4 on Bayside Field.
 
As a team the Hawks and Bison played a competitive matchup, with the Hawks holding a slight edge in shots, 38-36, and shots on goal 20-16. Both team struggled in clear attempts, as Nichols went 18-for-30 and the Hawks went 19-for-30. Nichols held a 41-35 edge in ground balls and 11-5 in faceoffs.
 
On the offensive end the Hawks saw Jacob Parenteau (Millville, Mass.) and Matt Kennedy (Cumberland, Maine) each score a pair of goals, while Caleb McKeown (Plymouth, Mass.), Carter Shelton (Castle Rock, Colo.), and Reece Moore (Marblehead, Mass.) each had two points with a goal and assist. Connor Russell (West Hartford, Conn.) had a pair of assists, as he rounded out a group of six Hawks with multi-point games.
 
On the defensive end, the Hawks saw Eric Izzo (Northford, Conn.), Matt Whitaker (Bridgewater, Mass.), and Alex Burrill (Scituate, Mass.) each have a pair of caused turnovers, with Burrill leading the team with six ground balls, while Kyle Zirn (Chester, N.H.) had five in the game.
 
For the Bison, Shea Ullo had a game-high three points with two goals and an assist, while Jack Campbell had two goals. Each of the Bison's four goals was assisted. In net, both goalkeepers had a strong performance, as Nichols' Carter Renaud made 11 saves while allowing nine goals, and Aaron D'Aversa (Sea Cliff, N.Y.) of RWU made 12 saves with four goals allowed.
 
The Hawks were the first to strike, as Shelton scored his 14^th goal of the season to put the Hawks up. With a penalty coming on the play against the Bison, the Hawks responded with a man-up goal, just 23 seconds later, taking a 2-0 lead with 7:46 remaining in the opening quarter, rounding out the scoring.
 
The Hawks extended their lead 58 seconds into the second frame, when Kennedy tallied his first goal of the game, ahead of Nichols getting on the board as Campbell was on the receiving end of a pass from Jonah Libby. The Hawks ended the half, scoring three straight goals to take a 6-1 advantage into the break, with Aidan Koster (Reading, Mass.), Parenteau and McKewosn scoring.
 
Nichols answered in the second half, scoring just 45 seconds in when Campbell, struck, with Ullo dishing out the helper on the goal. Moore had a goal just a few minutes later, taking a 7-2 lead, before heading into the fourth quarter, after a scoreless 11:29 to end the frame.
 
The Bison struck first with Ullo scoring the opening and final goals of the frame, but the Hawks were able to score two goals to level the fourth quarter at 2-2, closing out the matchup.
 
Roger Williams (5-8, 3-2 CNE) will host Curry on Saturday, Apr. 11 at 12:00 pm for Senior Day. The Hawks will then travel to Hartford on Tuesday, Apr. 14 at 7:00 pm before rounding out the week with a Saturday, Apr. 18 game at the University of New England.