Box Score WORCESTER – Roger Williams senior Jessica Valenti (North Reading, MA) scored 2:51 into the contest and the Hawks held on for a 1-0 victory over host WPI Sunday afternoon in a non-conference women's soccer match at Alumni Stadium.
Both teams entered the contest ranked in the NSCAA Division III New England coaches poll as Roger Williams (11-0-3) checked in ninth and the Engineers (9-2-1) remained 10th for the second consecutive week.
Valenti elevated her fifth goal of the year past the WPI netminder in the third minute off a pass from sophomore Samantha Woznicki (Bristol, CT). The Hawks did not take another shot on goal until the 62nd minute when senior Mariah Kaiser's (Portsmouth, RI) took her first of five attempts, which included nifty saves by WPI junior Abbey Teliska (LaGrangeville, NY) at 61:10, 72:39 and 82:34.
Roger Williams sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Martin (Scarborough, ME) was tested by sophomores Megan Hanshaw (Simsbury, CT) and Karina Larson (Storrs, CT) in the 27th and 58th minute, respectively. The Engineers best chance came in the 12th minute; however, senior Emily Doherty's (Shrewsbury, MA) bid caromed off the left post.
The Crimson and Gray looked to force overtime with a wild 90-plus seconds left in the match. Junior Erin Bracken (Bridgewater, MA) began the sequence when she boomed a close range chip shot at 88:27 and sophomore Susannah Gray's (York, ME) bid following a corner kick in the waning moments was blocked.
In all, the Engineers had the 11-8 advantage in shots while the Hawks were awarded seven of the contests 13 corner kicks.
The WPI women's soccer team and support staff donned t-shirts while donations were also collected over $350 on behalf of the American Cancer Society as part of the team's breast cancer awareness effort.
WPI is idle during finals week and will resume on Saturday when it hosts Wellesley at 1pm. Roger Williams entertains UMass Dartmouth Wednesday at 4pm.
