By Jim Fenton

BRISTOL, R.I. -- The Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team dropped its third straight game Wednesday afternoon.

The Bears fell behind by three goals in the opening 4:26 and were defeated by Roger Williams University, 15-6, at Bayside Field.

The non-conference loss drops BSU to 3-9 while the Hawks improved to 6-6 with their third win in a row. The Bears have lost eight of 10 meetings in the series since 2009.

Senior Meredith Sylvia (Dartmouth, Mass.) led BSU with a pair of goals and an assist. She also contributed three ground balls, a draw control and a game-high five caused turnovers.

Junior Miranda Hayes (South Burlington, Vt.) scored four goals for the Hawks while junior Allie Shamberger (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) and junior Jamie Anthony (Somers, Conn.) each had three goals and two assists.

Roger Williams had the 3-0 lead with 10:34 to go in the opening period after goals by Anthony with 12:18 to go, senior Mikayla Fey (Bethlehem, Pa.) with 11:16 left and senior Meaghan Holmes (Pembroke, Mass.) 42 seconds later.

BSU registered its first goal with 6:18 remaining when sophomore Sophia Fleurent (Fairhaven, Mass.) scored from Sylvia.

But the Hawks were ahead, 5-1, after one period when Anthony and senior Lauren Canata (West Springfield, Mass.) scored in the final 2:53.

The Bears were within 6-4 with 4:21 to go in the opening half.

After Hayes scored 20 seconds into the second period for Roger Williams, BSU had the next three goals.

Sylvia scored with 11:56 left in the half, junior Erin Henn (Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) had a goal with 6:34 to go and fleurent converted off the free position with 4:21 remaining.

But the Hawks responded with four goals in a row for a 10-4 lead.

Anthony, Hayes, Shamberger and freshman Mollee Merritt (Cheshire, Conn.) scored in a span of 3:19.

Freshman Kate Fitzpatrick (Methuen, Mass.) had a goal for BSU with just three seconds left to make it 10-5 at the break.

Roger Williams had the only two goals of the third period to build a 12-5 advantage.

Hayes scored the first one with 10:47 left and Shamberger added one with 5:26 remaining.

Shamberger opened the fourth-period scoring with a goal 20 seconds in and Sylvia, assisted by senior Katie Lamothe (Dartmouth, Mass.), scored for BSU with 10:46 remaining.

Roger Williams capped the scoring with a pair of goals 28 seconds apart by Hayes and freshman Noelle Finucane (Marshfield, Mass.).

Junior goalkeeper Aizza Chase (Cohasset, Mass.) recorded the win for the Hawks, making four saves.

Junior Gianna Scarpelli (Medford, Mass.) started for the Bears and had one save while sophomore Sara Skaff (Lowell, Mass.) stopped three shots in relief.

BSU finished with a slight 22-21 shot advantage as well as a 22-19 edge in ground balls. Draw controls were 15-8 in favor of Roger Williams with Hayes leading all players with ten. Fleurent paced Bridgewater State with six draw controls.

BSU returns to Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference play Saturday night when it travels to Westfield State for a 6 p.m. game.

Roger Williams is hosting the Wentworth Institute of Technology Saturday at 3 p.m.