Daniel Webster slides by Raiders, 10-7

Raider Field, Nashua, NH – The Rivier Raiders dropped a hard fought 10 – 7 loss to crosstown opponents Daniel Webster College on Wednesday night. Rivier fell behind in the 1st quarter and struggled to close the gap and get back to an even scoreline. The Raiders and visiting Eagles played an even and physical game, with a handful of chippy fouls and scrums. The Raiders could not convert a handful of scoring chances and were constantly trying to work their way back into the game.

Daniel Webster opened up a 2 – 0 lead in the 1st quarter with goals from Dan Knupfer and Justin Chiulli. With 1:47 to play in the 1st, Jeff Kelly (sophomore, Westborough, MA) got the Raiders on the board. Kelly picked a high bouncing ball out of midair and quickly tucked it home on the near post after the Raiders had done a good job of battling for the ball in front of the Eagles goal. Late in the 1st quarter, Daniel Webster was able to tally again to hold a 3 -1 lead after 1.

Mike Arricale (freshmen, Billerica, MA) got the Raiders to within 1 with a strike to open the 2nd quarter scoring. Arricale was assisted by Shawn Donovan (sophomore, Tewksbury, MA). Back to back strikes for DWC from Chiulli and Bobby Loranger at 9:10 and 8:53 put the visitors ahead 5 – 2. At the 6:39 mark of the 2nd, Danny Hooper (sophomore, Wakefield, RI) fired from 15 yards out after some good 1 v 1 work and his shot wormed its way through Tommy Driscoll in net for the Eagles. The Eagles struck again with a long low shot from Loranger to lead 6 – 3. At the 2:50 mark, Rivier's Chris Benoit (junior, Blackstone, MA) made a good save on Knupfer. At the 1:33 mark Ryan Woolaver (freshmen, Tewksbury, MA) rang the post with Rivier in a man-up situation. Benoit made a big save on Chiulli with 49 seconds left in the 2nd, staying strong on the near post and blocking a tough shot. The visiting Eagles continued to press and Taylor Snider (junior, Old Bridge, NJ) made a tough block with 10 seconds to play on a hard shot from Kieran Kavanaugh. With just 1.9 seconds left in the 1st half, Kurtis Fotheringham struck to put Daniel Webster ahead 7 – 3 at the half.

The visitors scored again to open up the 3rd quarter with Nate Burr tallying just 28 seconds in. Rivier answered just under 2 minutes later with Hooper tucking one away on an assist from T. Snider. The Eagles closed out the 3rd quarter with another strike form Fotheringham.

Rivier opened up the 4th quarter with a nice goal from Hooper at the 13:25 mark. Donovan made a nice little behind the back pass to Hooper in the slot to set him up for the goal. At the 9:26 mark, Woolaver made a strong run, and bulled his way through the checks of two DWC defenders before he placed a low shot into the goal and brought the Raiders within 3 at 9 – 6. Rivier continued to press, looking to cut into the lead, but a few forced shots were snared by Driscoll in the Eagles goal, and a couple of other Raider possessions went astray with loose passing and dropped balls. At the 7:45 mark Knupfer tallied again for Daniel Webster and gave the Eagles a 4 goal cushion. With 5:18 to play, the Raiders Arricale fired a good low shot just wide that would have made the final stretch interesting if he could have converted. At the 2:40 mark Tim Wall (freshmen, Peabody, MA) converted on a nice pass from Woolaver after he drove left to right through the crease, and the raiders were within 3 at 10 – 7. But, it was too little too late. The Eagles were able to hold on and close out the game.

The Raiders return to action on Saturday, April 21st away at St Joseph's Maine. Daniel Webster returns to action on Saturday at home to Emmanuel.