Raiders downed by visiting Regis College in season opener

(Nashua, NH) Freshman Brandon Hanifin (Tewksbury, MA) leads the Raiders with two goals but seven points from Regis' Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, FL) prove to be too much for the Raiders to handle.

Regis College upset the Rivier University Raiders 11-6 on a cold opening night for the men's lacrosse program. Rivier is looking to build on their playoff appearance last season with a revamped, stacked roster. Regis was led by freshman Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, FL) who had a game high 7 points with 5 goals and 2 assists. The Raiders were hurt by a stagnant man up offense which went 3-10 on the night.

The Raiders were first to strike on the night 8:50 into the game on a Ryan Woolaver (Tewksbury, MA) goal with the assist from junior Shawn Donovan (Tewksbury, MA). Regis answered with two goals of their own to take the lead 2-1. With 4:23 left in the first quarter junior Jeff Kelly (Westborough, MA) scored the man up goal to notch the score at 2-2.

In the second quarter Regis was first to break the tie with a goal by freshman Zach Goodsell (Rochester, NY). Freshman David Bray (West Suffield, CT) tied the game for the Raiders off an assist from none other than rookie goaltender Clark Plummer (Londonderry, NH). Plummer had 13 saves on the night. Rodrigo scored 2 unassisted goals to close out the first half for Regis and took a 5-3 lead into halftime.

Right off of the second half faceoff, Jack O'Brien (Milton, MA) notched the goal for Regis just 8 seconds into the period. Regis would score two more goals to take an 8-3 lead until the pair of Woolaver and Donovan switched roles and this time it was Donovan with his first goal of the season and Woolaver with the assist. Just 40 seconds later Regis answered with an Andrew O'Reilly (Hollis, NH) goal.

In the final 15 minutes of play both teams would capitalize on the man up opportunity. Regis added to their cause with two goals over a two minute span. Rivier battled until the end and scored on two Brandon Hanifin (Tewksbury, MA) goals. When all was said and done the Regis College Pride won 11-6 behind 36 shots and solid goaltending from junior Breandan Crane (Billerica, MA).

Rivier returns to action on Wednesday February 27, 2013 when they face Lyndon State College at home at 6:00 p.m. Regis plays next at Southwestern (Tex.) on March 7th.