Men's Lacrosse: Raiders clip the Blue Jays in Season Home Opening Win, 18-7.

Nashua, N.H. – The Rivier University Men's Lacrosse team starts the season off with a phenominal 18-7 victory over conference foes, Univeristy of Saint Joseph (CT).  

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Raiders bursted out the gates with 6 goal lead and it didn't stop until the Blue Jays responded with two goals within the final tow minutes of the first quarter.  It stated with freshman Connor Eck (Franklin, Mass.) netting his first collegiate goal off a dish from senior, Dylan McSparren (Warwick, R.I.).  Eck struck again two more times along with co-stars tallying 3 more goals from freshman Alan Cozzolino (Hamden, Conn.), Michael Ference (Salem, N.H.) and Coby Mercier (Boscawen, N.H.). 

Leading 6-2 after the first 15 minutes of play, the Raiders dropped another 7 points on the visitors.  Along with Eck and McSparren, Coby Mercier struck again off an assist from Ference.  Senior midfielder Jacob Enwright (Dracut, Mass.) sealed off the first half with the his first goal of the season and 20th goal of his collegiate carrier.  The Raiders carry 13-3 cushion into intermission.

The Blue Jays kept the third and fourth quarter score lines close. However the Raiders first half performance seperated the two programs enough to hold a healthy lead through the second half.

TEAM STATS:

Raiders held the lead in shots on goal (33-26), ground balls (45,28), and face-off victories (22-10) in the victory they cleared successfully on 26-of-31 attempts while USJ pulled out of their half 13-for-29 on clearing bids.

THE KEEPERS:

Raiders senior starter Ben Fitzpatrick (Stoneham, Mass.) earned the win after making 14 saves before freshman Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, Maine) popped in for a 15 minute stint tallying 5 saves.

LEADERS – Rivier University:

• Eck scored eight goals and picked up four ground balls
• Senior McSparren tallied four goals, three assists, and four ground balls
• Rookies Mercier and Ference netted 2 a piece and middie Alan Cozzilino (Hamden, Conn.) scored his first career goal.

NEXT!

Rivier University will play at Norwich University on Wednesday in a GNAC matchup slated to begin at 7:00 PM.