Women's Lacrosse Drops 10-6 Decision to Roger Williams

BRISTOL, R.I. -- The Roger Williams University women's lacrosse team extended its winning streak to six games with a 10-6 decision over visiting Bridgewater State University on Thursday evening.

The Hawks improve to 10-3 on the season, while the Bears slip to 6-4 overall.

Lauren Geary (Hull, Mass.) paced the visiting Bears with a pair of goals, including the 200th of her career, to go along with ten draw controls, four ground balls and three caused turnovers.

The Hawks nearly potted their first goal of the game at the six-minute mark when Emily Stoeppel (Brookfield, Conn.) had a breakaway on a clear attempt.  She found herself one-on-one with Bridgewater State goalie Allie Forman (Marblehead, Mass.) but Forman denied her shot with a save to her right.

The Hawks would eventually get on the board less than a minute later when Carly Martin (Scituate, Mass.) took advantage of a failed clear attempt and scored her 19th goal of the season.

Bridgewater State answered two minutes later with a goal from Melissa Renauld (Framingham, Mass.), hooking one just in the left corner of the net.  The Bears took the lead one minute later when Alex King (North Weymouth, Mass.) found Geary for another shot into the left corner, forcing a Hawk timeout.

Bridgewater State's lead held for seven minutes until McKenna Everding (Fayetteville, N.Y.) tied up the game with her 56th goal off of a pass from Stoeppel. Stoeppel would give the Hawks the lead with 10:26 left in the first half. After getting fouled as the Hawks were in transition, Stoeppel put a free position shot into the top of the goal. She would score less than thirty seconds later off of a pass from Everding, leading to a Bears' timeout.

The Bears ended their scoring drought with 7:32 left in the half. Marissa Yowell (Ashland, Mass.) played the ball from behind the net, making her way in front of the goal and putting one in, to bring the Bears within one.

Martin brought the lead back up to two, scoring on a pass from Everding with just under three minutes left in the half.  The Hawks closed out the half with Martin causing a turnover and bringing it down the other way. She would find Everding for her second goal of the game with nine seconds left, to give the Hawks a 6-3 lead going into halftime.

In the second half, the Hawks controlled the opening draw leading to a quick goal by Marin Owens (Brookline, N.H.).  Everding and Stoeppel connected again later in the half, with Everding scoring her third goal of the game, for a five-goal Hawk lead.

Bridgewater State finally notched their first goal of the second half at the 17-minute mark with Geary scoring her 200th career goal to bring the Bears within four. King later added another goal, but the Hawks would get the goal right back a minute later from Owens, leading to a timeout.

Bridgewater States pulled close with six minutes to play on an Elizabeth Ettridge (Marshfield, Mass.) goal, but the Hawks added an insurance goal in the final minute from Caitlin Murphy (Londonderry, N.H.).

Stoeppel finished with six points on two goals and four assists, while Everding added five points on three goals and two assists. Kimberly Bolk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) made four saves in the win.

Geary scored twice including the milestone 200th career goal, becoming the fourth Bear to reach the mark. King and Renauld each added a goal and an assist. Forman took the loss, making 13 saves.

Roger Williams will host Salve Regina next Wednesday, while Bridgewater State will be at MCLA on Saturday.

Notes: Geary moved into second place on the all-time NCAA Division III draw controls list as she now has 532 draws in four seasons with the Bears. Geary moved past Christy Thoden who notched 528 draws for Farmingdale State from 2012 to 2015. Jessica Scannapieco (2012-2015) of Western New England University is the all-time Division III leader with 573 draws....With her 13 saves, Forman surpassed Karen Rapchuck (1984-1986) for fourth place on the Bears' all-time saves list. Forman currently has 376 saves in three seasons at Bridgewater State.