NASHUA, N.H. —The trophy for the league’s winner has been passed around and raised by teams since 1983. But for the past three years, the only team to have it in their hands has been RWU.

Coming off a 4-2 win over Harvard University, RWU faced a familiar team. It’s been a while since they saw St. Anselm, but the championship was a rematch of the first game RWU played this season. This time, it was the Hawks of RWU, not St. Anselm, that came out on top — winning by a final score of 3-1.

RWU started senior Ryan Shea in net for this game. His partner in the goalie tandem, senior Marc Frederic, was in net for that first game as well as the one against Harvard. Shea was someone St. Anselm had to figure out once the puck dropped.

The first period ended scoreless, but, just as they did in the semifinal, RWU scored the first goal of the game in the second.

Sophomore Griffin Gagne made it 1-0 from a shot above the slot that beat goaltender Brendan Devlin and stuck between the netting and middle support bar in the back of the net.

RWU owes a partial assist to the referee who decided to kick junior Michael Tabb from the faceoff dot in the third period. From the outside of the circle stepped junior Max Schwartz to take the draw. Schwartz won it right to the stick of Tabb, who ripped a shot that ended up through the legs of Devlin and into the back of the net before anyone from St. Anselm could see it.

The lone goal for St. A’s came on a defensive miscue from RWU that allowed a 2-on-1 opportunity that the team from New Hampshire took advantage of.

As they did with Harvard, RWU eliminated the momentum of their opponent and regained a more comfortable lead. Sophomore Nicholas Hart scored a shorthanded goal late in the third to make it 3-1 and seal the game.

Senior captain Jonathan Panarelli said that this was the moment the team really knew they had won for the third consecutive year.

The last few seconds ticked off the clock and the Hawks from RWU ditched their sticks, gloves and helmets as they surrounded their goalkeeper.

The juniors of the team know nothing but championships, but the seniors are the ones who have guaranteed they’ll go out on top.

“It’s great. [My] last year, three years in a row with the cup,” said senior captain Jeremy Lawton. “There’s not better way to end it.”

For Head Coach Michael O’Brien, his first year with the school has ended with a conference championship.

“Making the decision to come to Roger Williams was one of the better decisions of my life,” O’Brien said. “[The guys] love each other. They’re an easy group to fall in love with.”