MLX: Lasell falls to Roger Williams; Debay and Anderson provide highlights for Lasers

NEWTON, Mass. – Juniors Jared Grier (Quincy, Mass.) and Peter Navarro (Londonderry, N.H.) combined for seven goals and four assists Wednesday afternoon as Roger Williams University defeated Lasell University, 18-7, in the Lasers' men's lacrosse home opener at Grellier Field.

The Hawks even their record at 2-2 overall while the Lasers drop to 0-2. Roger Williams was one of the two teams to defeat Lasell last season when the Lasers finished 16-2 overall.

Freshman Deven Debay (Pelham, N.H.) topped the Lasers with three goals, and sophomore James Anderson (Medway, Mass.) tallied a team-high five points on two goals and three assists. Sophomore Jordan Hines (Essex Jct., Vt.) also scored two goals in the setback, and freshman Fran Pino (Methuen, Mass.) picked up a team-high four ground balls.

Grier tallied four goals and two assists while Navarro finished with three goals and two assists for the Hawks. Senior Jude Marzec (West Islip, N.Y.) and juniors Tim Mullane (Hanover, Mass.) and Gabe Real (Fairfield, Conn.) all recorded two goals and one assist each as 10 different Hawks got into the scoring column.

The Hawks dominated the face-offs, winning 24 of 27 as junior Connor Hillemeir (Farmington, Conn.) won 16-of-19 with 10 ground balls and senior Harrison Levesque (Ridgefield, Conn.) was 8-for-8 with nine ground balls.

Roger Williams took control of the game in the first quarter, jumping out to a 7-1 lead. Navarro had three goals and Grier scored twice in the period, while Anderson had the lone Laser goal. The Hawks outscored the Lasers 5-2 in the second period to pull ahead 12-3 at the half, as Grier and Marzec scored twice each while Debay tallied both goals for the Lasers.

Hines scored a pair of goals for the Lasers early in the third quarter, but Roger Williams extended the lead to 17-6 by the end of the period. Each team scored once in the final frame.

RWU goalies Ryan Bannon (Hopkinton, Mass.) and Henry Weld (Duxbury, Mass.) each made six saves, with Bannon playing the first three quarters and Weld the final quarter. Lasell sophomore Alex Beauchemin (Westfield, Mass.) made 14 saves in the second half for Lasell after coming on in place on senior Ryan Janovic (East Lyme, Conn.), who made six stops in the first half.

Lasell is on home turf again this Saturday, Mar 7, at 12 noon, hosting Plymouth State University in a non-conference game. Roger Williams returns home to host Manhattanville College Saturday at 1 p.m.

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