Field Hockey: Raiders fall to Colby-Sawyer in GNAC opener

NASHUA, N.H. – The Rivier University Field Hockey team saw the visiting Colby-Sawyer College Chargers score three goals in a six minute span as they dropped their opening Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest this afternoon, 3-1 at Joanne Merrill Field. The Raiders are now 1-3 overall on the season with a 0-1 mark in conference play while the Chargers improve to 2-3 overall, 1-0 in the GNAC.

Junior Nicole Mansfield (Acton, Mass.) got the home team on the board early in the first quarter. She was able to fly down the far side of the field and sneak a shot past the CSC goalkeeper off the near post and into the back of the net. It was Mansfield's second goal of the season and it came in the 1st minute of play.

The teams battled hard through the second and third quarters with Colby-Sawyer dictating most of the action.

The Chargers finally found their way onto the scoreboard in the 52nd minute. Freshman Bella Silva (Danvers, Mass.) converted on a pass from senior Alie Jones (Cape Neddick, Maine) to knot things up at one. Minutes later (56th minute) Silva recorded her second goal of the contest as she was able to find a pass from junior Bella Robinson (Saco, Maine) in the middle of a scrum and slap the ball into the net. Colby-Sawyer then extended their lead to 3-1 in the 58th minute as Jones riffled a shot off a set corner play from junior Julia Lanctot (Sandown, N.H.), who inserted the ball, and found the wood for the eventual 3-1 final score.

Rivier sophomore goalkeeper Katie Olsen (Saugus, Mass.) made eight saves on eleven shots in the contest while her counterpart, junior Abby Ladd (Colchester, Vt.) recorded two saves on three shots faced.

Up next for the Raiders will be Fitchburg State University on Thursday, September 17. The non-conference contest will begin at 6pm. Colby-Sawyer will return to action on Tuesday evening as they host Keene State College in a 4pm non-conference affair.