Lasers zap Raiders in GNAC Men's Lacrosse Action

Newton, Mass. (3/28/13) – The Rivier University Men's Lacrosse team fell short in their quest for a road win at Lasell as the Lasers handed the Raiders a 15-7 loss. Rivier now sits at 2-2 in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference standings (6-3 overall) while the Lasers remain perfect at 2-0 (3-4 overall).

Ryan Woolaver (Tewksbury, Mass.) and David Bray (West Suffield, Conn.) each recorded a pair of goals for Rivier, while Kyle Graham (Londonderry, N.H.) was credited with four assists and went 7-17 for face-offs. The Raiders also had three players will at least one goal.

The host Lasers were led by Robbie Palazzo (Redding, Conn.) who found the back of the net five times on the day and would claim seven groundballs. Also contributing to the win was Dylan Fernandes (Billerica, Mass.) as he followed suit with four goals, Casey Sullivan (Waterford, Conn.) tallied one goal and three assists, and Ladson Shaello-Johnson (Binghamton, N.Y.) scored once and went 15-19 from the face-off dot.

The opening stanza of the game saw Lasell jump out to a 3-0 lead. Goals were scored by Andy Puopolo (Duxbury, Mass.) at 13:57, Dan Clark at the 5:56-mark, and Robbie Palazzo netted his first of the day with 1:04 remaining.

The Lasers came out of the break with two goals early into the second quarter. The fourth goal of the afternoon came from Aaron LaPorte (Gorham, Maine) at the 13:35-mark, while teammate Palazzo on a feed from Sullivan would bump the Lasers' lead to 5-0 just 11 seconds later. At 5:35, Rivier got on the board thanks to a Woolaver goal on a pass from Danny Hooper (Wakefield, R.I.) to make it 5-1, and ending the scoring for the half.

At the beginning of the second half, Lasell found the back of the net three times in a little over a minute as Puopolo, Shaello-Johnson and Palazzo gave the Lasers the 8-1 lead with 6:49 remaining. Riviers' Bray was able to cut through the Laser defense to make it 8-2. A minute-later, at 5:09, Palazzo would keep the Laser lead at seven as he scored to make it 9-2.

Dylan Fernandes would make it 10-2 for the hosts to start the final stanza. The Raiders would not go away however, as goals from Robert Auer (Salem, N.H.) at 13:27, Mike Arricale (Billerica, Mass.) at 12:20, Bray at 12:01, and Ryan Woolaver's second of the day with 7:50 to go, brought them back within four to make it 10-6. A pair of goals by Fernandes from just inside the top of the box would make it 12-6 for Lasell. Brandon Hanifin (Tewksbury, Mass.) would pull a goal back for Rivier to make it 12-7 at the 3:27-mark, but that would be the end of the scoring for the visitors. Fernandes, Sullivan, and Palazzo would each score for the Lasers to bring it to 15-7 at the final whistle.

Rivier's Chris Plummer (Londonderry, N.H.) was credited with the loss as he stopped 13 of 28 shots on net, while David Walen (Longmeadow, Mass.) recorded the win by stopping 10 of 17 shots on goal.

Both teams will resume conference action on the road on Saturday March 30. Rivier will travel to Emmanuel for a 3:00 p.m. start, while the Lasers will battle at Becker at 3:30 p.m.