Men's Lacrosse: Raiders fall to the Monks in a GNAC Showdown.

Nashua, N.H. - The Rivier University Men's Lacrosse drops to a 2-2 overall record after falling to the Monks of St. Joseph's College lastnight at Joanne Merrill Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The evenly matched rivals were unable to achieve any breathing room to speak of, as neither team achieved a lead greater than three goals in a game that featured five lead changes and nine tie scores. 

The first leg started off with rookie Connor Eck (Franklin, Mass.) netting the first goal of the game off a Michael Ference's (Salem, N.H.) dish under a minute into the game.  The Monks responded twice to take the lead.  Only until freshman Alan Cozzolino neutralized the Monks with a smooth goal after an even smoother save from the Raiders goalkeeper Ben Fitzpatrick (Stoneham, Mass.). The Raiders found the back of the net one more time by the end of the half ending the quarter 3-3. 

The second leg was well-contested as the visitors edged out the Raiders by a goal.  Ference and Eck tallied a goal apiece and freshman Cole Perreault (Gorham, Maine) found the back of the net for his first career goal. Second quarter ended 7-6 in favor of the Monks. 

The tables turned in the third quarter as the Raiders came out of half time on fire. Ference dropped three un assisted goals and managed to assist a goal to Eck. Fitzpatrick out saved the visitors 4-2, helping the Raiders edge out a one goal lead by the end of the quarter, 10-9.

The fourth quarter the two programs continued their back and forth. At one point the Raiders took a three goal lead. Freshman Max Kelley put one in the books while Cozzolino tallied one for himself and Ference took advantage of a man-up situation. The Monks returned four unanswered goals within four minutes. Only until Ference scored another goal with a man up. McSparren struck one more time with under two minutes to go in the game in another man-up situation to end regular time with an even score 15-15. 

The match went into a four minute sudden death over time. The Monks controlled possession as Shane Puleao peppered freshman goalkeeper Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, Maine) with shots. However the rookie made it incredibly difficult.  It was St. Joe's junior middie Zavier Balzano (Otisfield, Maine) that capitalized off a dish from Shane Puleno (Nashua, N.H.) to end overtime. 

TEAM STATS:

The Raiders took 39 shots on the night while capitalizing on three of their nine extra-man opportunities. The Raiders scooped up 23 ground balls and went 20-35 on clears. 

THE KEEPERS:

Raiders senior starter Fitzpatrick pulled down 10 saves in the performance. Freshman Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, Maine.) came in for for overtime and pulled down 2 big saves. Collectively the two outsaved St. Joe's 12-4.

LEADERS – Rivier University:

• Eck now leads the Raiders with 17 goals.
• Freshman Michael Ference (Salem, N.H.) leads the team with 8 assists.  
• Fitzpatrick as denied 46 shots to date 

NEXT!

The Raiders will be back in action this Saturday to face AMCats of Anna Maria College (1-4 overall, 1-3 GNAC) in Paxton, Mass.  Face off is scheduled for 1PM and it will be warm!

Live stream will be available at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/annamaria/