WORCESTER, Mass. – Sophomores Myles Lakin (Reading, MA) and Emma Barton (Hopewell Junction, NY) each recorded career-firsts as WPI defeated Roger Williams 2-0 in the season opener at Bayside Field. Lakin earned his first career victory in goal, while Barton scored her first career goal for the Engineers.
Originally scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. start, the game was delayed to 7:30 p.m. due to a weather-related holdover from a previous Roger Williams contest. WPI improves to 1-0, marking its first season-opening win under head coach Kim Cosenza, while the Hawks fall to 0-1.
Barton and graduate student Lauren Meinhold (Boxboro, MA) provided the offensive spark. Barton opened the scoring at 25:33 with a tip-in off a shot from Abbey Powers (Halifax, MA), giving WPI a 1-0 lead. Meinhold later assisted on Barton’s second goal, which came halfway through the third quarter after a sequence of penalty corners.
Despite being outshot 16-8 and facing a 20-4 deficit in penalty corners—including a 6-0 second-quarter margin and 10-0 in the fourth—WPI’s Lakin was stellar between the pipes, recording 12 saves. Roger Williams’ Chelsea King (Albany, NY) led all players with six shots on goal, while Hannah Brazil (Sandwich, MA) contributed two saves for the Hawks.
WPI and Roger Williams will both be back on the field Sunday. The Engineers face the University of New England at 1:00 p.m., while Roger Williams hosts Lasell at 11:00 a.m.