The Roger Williams Men’s Lacrosse team is coming into this season with a playoff appearance in three of the last four years; last year a loss in the second round to Western New England. The team is led by Head Coach, Kevin Gould, in his third year, who this season has a lot of newer role players to work with.
“We have a lot of new guys, and a lot of them are playing. They should play significant time,” said Gould.
The Hawks this season will have 15 freshmen and 2 transfers on their roster. Though the Hawks have a bit of unknown, Gould has no doubt about his new players’ work ethic and chemistry.
“A lot of our freshmen and sophomores, we call them lacrosse rats,” said Gould. “The freshmen class is so close they all live on campus, if we have practice early, a lot of them are getting in some extra work on their own.”
With over 30 returners, there are a lot of leadership roles that can be filled. Gould believes his returners have bonded well and early with the newcomers so far.
“I think naturally, the fall coming in, technically we are in our championship season. They do have a little bit more free time than they do in the spring,” said Gould. “They utilize that time to socialize together and get to know each other.”
Endicott and Western New England have been the force keeping the Hawks out of a championship appearance in the past four years. The Hawks were eliminated by Western New England last season and Endicott in 2022, as well as 2021 according to the RWU athletics website.
“We’ve created a nice little rivalry with Wentworth and Nichols. The three of us have kind of been the bridesmaid to Western New England and Endicott,” said Gould.
One key piece that Gould believes will help the outcome of this season, is Matt Hemmert who scored 72 goals last season. Hemmert scored more than a quarter of the Hawks total goals during the season.
“He’s kind of a guy at the end of the rainbow, at the end of the play. He leans on his teammates to kick things off, and get the defense moving. Certainly he’s the guy we try to find towards the end of possessions,” said Gould.
Hemmert’s 72 goal season last year was the most in Roger Williams history in a single season according to the RWU athletics website.
“Very good shot, very quick release, really good at finding space. He’s a highly intelligent player,” said Gould. “What he’s done for us culturally and with the younger guys, has been even more impactful.”
Hemmert could be approaching his final season as Gould states that he would only have another year left of eligibility to play as he is a current graduate student. With Hemmert’s career finale on the horizon for the Hawks, Gould has no immediate plans to replace his grad player.
“I don’t think we will ever replace him with one player, he scored 72 goals last year. Usually that’s two or three guys worth of goals,” said Gould.
Gould has confidence in his other returners to come in and step into crucial roles that will help to shift the momentum of the games.
“Matt Kennedy has been a sophomore that has done really well this fall for us. Brady Lee is a sophomore that has a flair for the dramatic, kind of that clutch gene people talk about,” said Gould.
The Hawks begin their 17-game season this Saturday, facing off against Babson College. The game will be played at Babson Park, Massachusetts, on MacDowell Field. Though a championship would add to Gould’s resume, he has different coaching goals for his team this season.
“Maximizing the potential of our team, again we have so many young guys, so having them all have great freshmen seasons. Making sure the seniors leave with a positive taste in their mouth. Feeling we got the most out of their group’s senior year,” said Gould.
