Monks Upend Raiders 14 – 8

4/3/2013 – Raider Field; Nashua, NH – The Rivier University Raiders (6 – 5, 2 – 4 GNAC) ran into one of the GNAC's three remaining undefeated teams, the Saint Joseph's College Monks (5 – 6, 4 – 0 GNAC), falling 14 – 8. In a tough conference match-up, the Raiders were able to keep the game tight through the first half, going into the break down two at 7 – 5. However, the Monks turned the tables, scoring two to end the 1st half and adding four more to start the 3rd quarter, putting together a 6 – 0 run that changed the game from a 5 – 5 tie to an 11 – 6 lead for the visitors.

Rivier was led by Rob Auer (Fr, Salem, NH) 4 goals, 2 ground balls, Kyle Graham (Fr, Londonderry, NH) 1 goal, 2 assists, 11 ground balls, David Bray (Fr, West Suffield, CT) 2 goals, 1 assist, 5 ground balls, and Cody Lynch (So, Salem, NH) 18 ground balls. Clark Plummer (Fr, Londonderry, NH) played in net recording 16 saves on the day.

The visiting Monks were paced by Andrew Sullivan (So, Rochester, NH) 4 goals, 3 ground balls, Ahmed Dorghoud (Jr, Alexandria, VA) 5 ground balls, Jeremy Sampsonis (Fr, Shrewsbury, MA) 5 ground balls, and Jake Ricciardi (Jr, Sharon, MA) 3 goals. Saint Joseph's defense was backboned by goalkeeper Christopher Driscoll (Sr, Saco, ME) with 17 saves.

Saint Joseph's got off to a strong start, outshooting the Raiders 13 – 4 in the opening quarter. The Raiders were able to keep the game tight and were down only one goal to close the 1st, 4 – 3. Rivier was able to tie the score at 5 with 1:39 to play in the 2nd on an unassisted strike from Auer. The visitors responded quickly, punching in two goals from Ricciardi and Sullivan before the quarter ended to pull ahead 7 – 5 to end the 1st half.

The Raiders fell behind in the 3rd quarter, unable to keep pace as Saint Joseph's scored 4 unanswered goals to pull ahead 11 – 5. Rivier evened out the field in the final quarter, trading goals with the visiting Monks 3 – 3, but the home team was unable to mount a run to erase their deficit.

With the loss, the Raiders pull to 6 – 5 on the season. The Raiders return to action on Saturday afternoon, April 6th, when they face GNAC opponent Becker at 1:00 pm in a home contest. The Monks, climbing to 5 – 6 overall, will look to continue their strong play in the GNAC against Lasell in a home contest on Saturday, April 6th, at 1:00 pm.