Saints upend Rivier in GNAC action

BOSTON, Mass. – The Rivier University Men's Lacrosse team was defeated by Emmanuel College, 6-4, Saturday afternoon at Roberto Clemente Field in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action. With the victory, the Saints snap a six-game losing streak including the previous three conference games by one-goal defeats to improve to 3-6 overall and 1-3 in the GNAC while the loss drops the Raiders to 6-4 and 2-3 in the GNAC.

The Saints opened the scoring as freshman attacker Kaile MacLean-Daley (Moretown, Vt.) used a feed from freshman Micahel Rogers (New Haven, Conn.) to give EC the 1-0 lead with 5:42 to play in the first quarter. Just 27 second later, sophomore Jake Jaskolski (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) fired a shot above to the top shelf of the net to give the Saints a 2-0 lead heading into the second quarter.

Rivier would get on the board with a man-up score just 1:24 into the second quarter to make it a 2-1 game as sophomore Ryan Woolaver (Tewksbury, Mass.) deposited a Danny Hooper (Wakefield, R.I.) pass into the back of the net. 30 seconds later, the Raiders evened the score at 2-2 when freshman Kyle Graham (Londonderry, N.H.) netted his 10th goal of the year. Graham rolled off a screen and used a feed from sophomore Cody Lynch (Salem, N.H.) to tie the contest.

Over the final four minutes of the half, the squads would trade goals to make it a 3-3 contest at the half. EC freshman middie Chris Curtis (Ashland, Mass.) gave Emmanuel the brief 3-2 lead with an unassisted tally before Hooper evened the score at 3-all, burying a feed from Graham for his ninth score of the season.

After eight minutes of scoreless action to open the third quarter, the Rivier bench was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty which the Saints capitalized on to take control of the game. MacLean-Daley netted his team-leading 17th goal of the year with the help of a Jack Ruggiero (Manhasset, N.Y.) assist to give EC the lead for good and put them on top 4-3 with 6:48 remaining in the third.

In the final quarter, Jaskolski and Ruggiero would bury unassisted tallies for some insurance to make it 6-3 with just less than nine minutes remaining. Rivier was able to get one back as Graham recorded his 11th goal of the year with 1:37 left on the clock but it was too little too late for the Raiders as the Saints held on for the 6-4 win.

Sophomore goalie Austin Lauzier (Bedford, N.H.) earned the win in net, making seven saves for the Saints while his counterpart, freshman Clark Plummer (Londonderry, N.H.) made 13 saves for Rivier.

Emmanuel returns to action on Wednesday, April 3 when they host Salem State University at 7:00 PM in a non-conference match up while the Raiders host Saint Joseph's College (ME) in GNAC action the same day at 4:00 PM.