BRISTOL, R.I. – With a goal coming 52 seconds into overtime, the Roger Williams University men's lacrosse team advanced to the semifinal round of the 2013 Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament
The first period saw each team score a pair of goals. Steve Glover (Marstons Mills, Mass.) opened for the Leopards on a pass from Alec Paradis (Pelham, N.H.) at 8:44. Caleb Kenny (Portland, Maine) answered for the Hawks at 6:51 to bring the game back to even on the scoreboard. At 3:47 Paradis put the Leopards back up by one before Drew Beck (South Salem, N.Y) would tie the score with 0:57 left in the period.
In second period the Hawks built a two goal lead before Wentworth brought it back to even going into half. John Ricciardi (Duxbury, Mass.) fed an open Beck at 11:56 to put the score at 3-2. Beck then dished to Cameron Signorelli (Albany, N.Y.) in the next possession to give the Hawks their only two goal cushion of the day. Ryan Coakley (Flemington, N.J.) finished on a drive at 7:47 and Glover found an open Nick Parent (Windham, N.H.) who finished on net at 6:28 to bring the game to back to even.
The seesaw battle continued in the second half. The Leopards took the lead when Paradis connected with Michael Cushera (Waltham, Mass.) for his first of the day at 10:47. Roger Williams scored the next two to take a 6-5 lead. Signorelli hit the mark at 4:34 and Kevin Nash (Scituate, Mass.) put his first goal of the season in just a minute later. The combination of Paradis and Cushera reconnected in the closing seconds of the period for Paradis first goal.
Both teams traded goals in the fourth with Ricciardi scoring at 11:50 for the Hawks and Paradis returning the favor for the Leopards at 6:07. Ian Powers (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who scored his first of the day at 5:35 to give the Hawks a one goal lead. With less than a minute left in the game Coakley hit Glover for the finish to square it up and send it into sudden death overtime.
Alan Williams (Bristol, R.I.) secured the overtime faceoff for the Hawks and 52 seconds later Beck found an open Powers for the final score. Powers who set his career high goals in the last match a week earlier would prove to be fatal for the Leopards again.
Williams had another stellar day taking 18 of the 21 faceoffs giving the Hawks their only sizeable advantage in the stats.
Jared Proulx (Nashua, N.H.) saved 14 shots in the loss and Luke Aubrey (Norwalk, Conn.) stopped 12 balls in the win.
The Hawks (9-6) advance to the Commonwealth Coast Conference Semifinals to take on the second-seeded Golden Bears of Western New England University in Springfield, Mass. On Wednesday. The Leopards fall to 10-6 and await a possible ECAC Tournament berth. Four of Wentworth's losses have been by one goal, including the last two coming in overtime.
(Portions of This Recap Courtesy of Roger Williams Sports Information)