DUDLEY, Mass. (March 11) – The Roger Williams men’s lacrosse team edged host Nichols, 8-7, in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference game on Vendetti Field Thursday evening. The game marked the conference opener for both teams, and the season opener for the Hawks, who improve to 1-0 (1-0 TCCC). Nichols dips to 0-2 (0-1 TCCC).
Junior midfielder Connor McCabe led the Hawks with three goals, while first year attacker Ian Powers added a pair of goals and an assist. Junior midfielder Jim Turenne chipped in with a goal and an assist.
Junior midfielder Tim Ahern (Boca Raton, Fla.) had a pair of goals and two assists for the Bison, while first year attacker Matt Caulfield (Fairfield, Conn.) added two goals. Bradley O’Brien (Danbury, Conn.) scored a goal and assisted another.
Roger Williams took a 1-0 lead just 34 ticks into the game on a Drew Smith unassisted score, but Nichols responded with a pair from first year attacker Steve Delahanty (Auburn, N.H.) and Caulfield to retake the lead at 7:52 of the opening frame.
The Hawks scored the first two goals of the second quarter to retake the lead at 3-2, the first coming from McCabe at 12:22, and the second from Powers six minutes later.
Ahern knotted the game with a man-up goal with 2:01 left in the half, assisted by Ryan Pacific (Danbury, Conn.), one of two helpers for the junior on the night. But Powers edged the visitors ahead with 12 seconds left in the frame to give the Hawks a 4-3 halftime advantage.
Turenne assisted a Jim Tancredi man-up score to open the second half, and then McCabe converted a centering pass from Powers to extend the Hawks’ lead to three at 6-3 by the end of the third quarter.
Nichols outscored the Hawks, 4-2, in the final frame and had a chance to win it as time expired, but the Bison’s final shot was saved by Roger Williams goalkeeper Tyler Roebuck.
The Bison opened the fourth quarter with goals from Caulfield and Macaulay Gillis (Northborough, Mass.) to bring the score to 6-5 in favor of the Hawks, but Roger Williams netted the next two to extend its lead back to three. McCabe scored at 13:22, followed by Turenne five minutes later.
O’Brien brought the Bison within two with 3:16 left on the clock. Nichols fought off a 30 second penalty whistled at 1:47 before O’Brien assisted a goal from Ahern with just 24 seconds left in regulation to bring Nichols within one.
Roebuck finished with nine saves, as did Nichols goalkeeper Scott Gray (Annapolis, Md.).
Roger Williams was 1-for-4 with the man advantage, while Nichols finished 1-for-8. The Hawks held a 50-35 advantage in groundballs and won 10 of 18 faceoffs, led by an 8-of-15 performance by Austin Fehringer. Tim Dooley (Tewksbury, Mass.) won 8-of-16 for the Bison.
Nichols is back in action on Saturday, March 20th in a 1 p.m. home game against Salem State. Roger Williams travels to Lasell for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, March 13.
Box Score