Women's Soccer Drops 1-0 Decision to Roger Williams

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's soccer team was shutout for the second time this season on Wednesday night.

The Bears were edged by Roger Williams University, 1-0, at Mazzaferro Field with the game-winning goal coming with less than 30 minutes remaining.

BSU is now 3-5 overall and has lost all five games against non-conference opponents.

Roger Williams is 5-1-2 and has won three straight against the Bears, giving the Hawks a 12-10-1 lead in the series.

The Bears were also shutout this month by Wheaton College, 3-0. This is BSU's first 1-0 loss since Oct. 26, 2022 when UMass Boston won by that margin on the road.

The Hawks had a 19-4 edge in shots and an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal. Roger Williams had eight of the 11 corner kicks in the game.

Roger Williams' goal came at 62:53 when junior Sarah Fogarty (Scituate, Mass.) scored from junior Casey Donnelly (Norwalk, Conn.).

A corner kick by Donnelly was converted into a goal on a one-timer inside the six by Fogarty for her second score of the season.

Right after that goal, BSU senior Lauren Sellmayer (Easton, Mass.) made a bid to tie it, hitting the top of the crossbar from 36 yards out on a restart.

Earlier in the half, in the 52nd minute, BSU was denied on a penalty kick by senior goalkeeper Coco Marrelli (Fairfield, Conn.).

Senior Olivia Robarge (Pepperell, Mass.) drew the foul and senior Jenna Sweeney (Wilmington, Mass.) was stopped by Marrelli.

A minute later, BSU senior goalkeeper Logan Levesque (Bristol, R.I.) made a diving stop to keep the game scoreless before Fogarty's goal some nine minutes later.

Roger Williams had a 10-2 edge in shots in the first half and a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks. BSU did not have a shot on goal over the first 45 minutes while Levesque played a strong opening half.

In the 38th minute, sophomore Anna Rice (Weymouth, Mass.) recorded a team save to keep the game scoreless at the time. Rice cleared a header off the line by Fogarty that came off a corner kick.

Levesque finished the game seven saves while Marrelli had just one stop and that came on the PK attempt.

The Hawks outshot the Bears, 19-4, and finished with an 8-3 edge in corner kicks.

BSU will be home Saturday at noon to face Westfield State University. The Bears are in first place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference, tied with Worcester State at 3-0, while the Owls are 2-0.

The two teams have met in the past two MASCAC tournament championship games with Westfield State winning in 2023, 2-1, and Bridgewater State prevailing last fall, 3-2.

Roger Williams has a home matchup with the University of New England on Saturday at noon in the Conference of New England.

Notes: The penalty kick attempt marked the Bears first since November 3, 2023 when Audra McDuffie converted against Fitchburg State in the MASCAC Tournament Semifinal.