BRISTOL, R.I. (April 6, 2016) - The Roger Williams University women's lacrosse team built a seven-goal halftime lead and held off a late Western New England University rally to earn a 14-9 victory this afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Bayside Field.
 
Trailing 9-2 at the break, Western New England was able to close the gap to three (12-9) with 11:18 remaining on senior Taylor Scialdone's (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) second goal of the game. The Golden Bears were unable to generate any more offense, however, as Roger Williams scored two late goals and held on for the win.
 
Scialdone and senior Ashley Brunner (Stratford, Conn.) led Western New England with three points each, while classmate Brooke Kumnick (Granby, Conn.) and sophomore Julia Winer (Longmeadow, Mass.) added two points apiece.  
 
Sophomore Kaelin Hogan (Bethel, Conn.) powered the Roger Williams offense with seven points (five goals, two assists), and also secured a game-high seven draw controls. Junior McKenna Everding (Fayetteville, N.Y.) scored five goals, while freshman Emily Stoeppel (Brookfield, Conn.) chipped in with four points as the Hawks snapped Western New England's 24-game CCC regular season winning streak.
 
Sophomore goalie Shannon McFadden (West Islip, N.Y.) made nine saves for the Golden Bears, and junior Kimberly Bolk (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) finished with three stops in the Roger Williams cage.
 
After Kumnick scored her 36^th goal of the season at the 23:38 mark of the first half to tie the game at 1-1, the Hawks posted a 7-0 run to open up an 8-1 advantage with 8:18 left in the period. The home team's surge was fueled by four goals from Everding, while Hogan chipped in with two goals and one assist. Each team would score once more as Roger Williams took a 9-2 lead into the break.
 
Hogan netted the first goal of the second half just 12 seconds into the period, but a 3-0 Western New England run followed as the Golden Bears pulled back to within five (10-5) with just under 21 minutes to play.
 
Roger Williams' lead was back to six (12-6) after sophomore Carly Martin's (Scituate, Mass.) goal with 13:44 on the clock, before Western New England put together one final rally to get to within three (12-9) with 11:18 left. The Golden Bears' quick 3-0 run featured Scialdone's 46^th and 47^th tallies of the season and Brunner's third of the afternoon, but it wasn't enough as Roger Williams scored the final two goals of the contest and held on for a 14-9 win.
 
Western New England (8-3, 2-1 CCC) will look to bounce back on Saturday, when the Golden Bears hit the road again for a contest at Endicott. Roger Williams (7-3, 3-0 CCC) is also back in action on Saturday at Nichols.