RWU women’s lacrosse dominates Curry

Photo contributed by Benjamin Crawley

Andrew Wuebker

Sports Editor

The Roger Williams University women’s lacrosse team posted their largest victory of the season on the night of Tuesday, March 28, whipping Curry College 19-3.

It took two tries for the Hawks (6-3), but the victory over Curry was their first Commonwealth Coast Conference win of the year. Their first conference matchup resulted in a loss against third-placed Endicott College in a 14-8 decision last Saturday, March 25, but a bounce-back effort Tuesday on defense sparked their most dominating defensive performance of the season thus far; allowing a season-low three goals.

“Our team overall has a great attitude on both ends of the field, and that was seen in the game against Curry,” said senior captain McKenna Everding on whether the team values attitude or technique more when it comes to being stout defensively. “Our defense had a very solid performance and held our opponents to only three goals. For us, when it comes to attitude and technique, the two go hand in hand with each other. Ultimately, a cohesive and relentless attitude on defense leads to good technique.”

Despite wet and rainy weather conditions, the Hawks didn’t allow Mother Nature to slow them offensively, getting off to a fast start in the contest’s first five minutes by scoring three straight goals.

Sophomore Marin Owens was the first Hawk to net a score (four goals), followed by Everding (five goals) and freshman Shayne Rivard.

After Rivard’s goal, the Colonels promptly answered in 12 seconds, making the score 3-1 with 25:12 to go in the first half. Following Curry’s first score, sophomore Emily Stoeppel (two goals) scored for the Hawks on an assist from Owens to increase the lead back to three, making the score 4-1. With just under 18 minutes to go in the first period, Curry scored again, bringing their deficit down to two.

Over the next eight and a half minutes, neither side could find the back of the net. Using their aggressive approach on defense, the Hawks finally began turning stops into scores, scoring an unanswered six goals in just over six minutes led by Everding, Owens and junior Kaelin Hogan. Everding and Hogan combined for five of the six goals in that span with Owens chipping in one, helping their team quickly turn a once competitive contest into a blowout with a 10-2 advantage, leaving just over three minutes to go on the clock in the first half.

Following RWU’s six straight goals, Curry scored their last goal of the day as the first half drew to a near close. Hogan then added insult to Curry’s injury, scoring her third goal of the first half and giving the Hawks a 11-3 advantage going into intermission.

As the second period began, Roger Williams clearly wasn’t lacking in their aggressive approach. Showing no regard for Curry’s defense, the Hawks shut out the Colonels in the second half 8-0, getting contributions across from top to bottom on their roster—a telling sign for a team that’s looking to improve as CCC play is just beginning.

“Going into any game, specifically a conference game, we all need to play as a strong and confident unit that is able to execute,” Everding said. “That is the mindset that the attackers possess when it comes to putting the ball in the back of the net. Mental toughness and a good work ethic in practice translates over into games, which is what our team strives to embrace on and off the field.”

Up next: The Hawks will drive 15 miles south to neighboring Salve Regina University in Newport on Wednesday, April 5 for their next matchup.