THE BASICS:

- Score: Roger Williams University 12, MIT 9

- Records: MIT (0-1); Roger Williams University (1-0)

- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Jack Barry Field)

- The Lead: Trailing 6-5 early in the second half, Roger Williams University scored six unanswered goals to defeat the MIT women's lacrosse team in the season opener for both squads tonight on Jack Barry Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- Roger Williams jumped out to an early 4-1 advantage over the first ten minutes of the season opening game. MIT's lone goal over the stretch came from sophomore Naomi Lutz (Northbrook, Ill.) on a free position attempt.

- The Engineers fought back and put together a 4-0 run of its own thanks to goals by first-year Grace Ann Carlson (Charleston, S.C.), sophomore Shannon Wing (Westford, Mass.), first-year Lindsey Gambino (Garden City, N.Y.) off a feed by senior Rayna Higuchi (Solana Beach, Calif.) and first-year Ellie Rabenold (Cincinnati, Ohio) on a free position shot. The Hawks registered one more goal prior to the break as the score stood at 5-5 at halftime.

- Rabenold gave MIT a 6-5 advantage just 2:32 into the second half, but Roger Williams answered with six straight goals to go ahead 11-6. The stretch for the visiting Hawks featured four goals by Mandy Beck, one by Shayne Rivard and one by Ashely Warren.

- Gambino tallied the only man-up goal of the game with 3:45 to play and Lutz scored her second of the contest for the Engineers with 35 ticks left on the clock, but Roger Williams held off the late run by MIT to win by a 12-9 final.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- In her first collegiate game, Gambino registered the first hat trick of her career on three shots, while Lutz and Rabenold both added two goals apiece in the game tonight. MIT's five assists came from five different student-athletes. The Roger Williams offense featured four goals from Beck and a trio from Warren.

- Defensively, Higuchi posted a match-high four ground balls and a team-high three caused turnovers for MIT, while senior Leah Vogel (Houston, Texas) won four draw controls to go along with a pair of ground balls.

- Roger Williams held a slim 12-11 edge in draw controls, while both teams scooped up 19 ground balls. The Engineers went 18-for-24 won clearing attempts and the Hawks went 17-for-22 in transition. MIT was successful on three free position attempts and held the visitors to just one free position goal on the night.

- In net, Lydia Nelson (1-0) made seven saves on 16 shots for Roger Williams, while junior Hannah Adams (McLean, Va.) and first-year Abigail Kolyer (Manhasset, N.Y.) split halves for MIT. Adams made three saves on eight shots over the first 30 minutes and Kolyer stopped the ball seven times in the second stanza.

UP NEXT:

- MIT will travel to Johnson & Wales University on Saturday February 29 for a 1:00 pm non-conference contest.

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