BRISTOL, R.I. – A pair of second-half goals snapped a 1-all tie and lifted the Roger Williams men's soccer team to a 3-1 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference action played at a stormy Bayside Field.
Running their unbeaten streak to three (2-0-1), the Hawks improve to 8-6-2 overall and 3-3-1 in league play while the Leopards fall to 4-7-4 (2-4-1).
Wentworth maintained possession in their offensive end often in the early part of the first half. The Leopards managed a corner and three shots (two on goal) in the first six minutes of the game.
Sam Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.) helped the Leopards break through shortly into the contest. After a Hawk foul, Martins set up a few yards outside the middle of the box for the free kick. He would put his kick over the Hawk defense and into the back of the net for a 1-0 Leopard lead at 15:23.
Roger Williams would answer back in the 28th minute. Andre Brueckner (West Simsbury, Conn.) put up a corner kick to the middle of the box. Trevor Sparda (Scarborough, Maine) leapt high above the crowd and knocked a header to the middle of the net for the equalizer.
Wentworth nearly added another goal in the 39th minute, with Connor Gullifer (Scarborough, Maine) putting up a shot off of a corner kick and getting denied by Hawk goalie Tom Mangels (Garden City, N.Y.). Gullifer would get another opportunity off the loose ball, but a heads-up play by Brueckner kept the game tied. Brueckner managed to get in front of the ball that would have most likely scored.
In the second half, the Hawks snapped the tie in the 58th minute. Sparda tapped a short pass to Andrew Carlson (Ridgefield, Conn.) to the middle outside of the box. Carlson then launched a hard shot over the keeper to give RWU a 2-1 advantage.
Two minutes later, the Hawks added to their lead, as Brueckner stole a Leopard pass and fed Tyler Kuchenbecker (Wellesley, Mass.) across the middle for the tap-in to put the Hawks up by two.
Throughout the course of the game, rain and wind from a coastal storm provided adverse playing conditions and in the 71st minute, lightning was detected in the area, which forced a 35-minute delay before the game could be completed.
Mangels had eight saves for the Hawks in the win, while Leopard keeper Noah Scanlon (Millington, N.J.) made three stops for Wentworth.
On Saturday, Roger Williams will host the University of New England, while Wentworth hosts Endicott.
