Men's Lacrosse: Raiders fall to the Cadets in the GNAC Semi-finals.

The Rivier University Raiders just wrapped up another successful season last night at Norwich University.  While the result wasn't exactly what the Raiders had planned, Coach DeLanoy and the Raiders are proud of thier achievements this year.  The team battled the Cadets to a 14-6 loss in pouring rain last night in Northfield, Vermont. 

The first two legs both teams put on a fight in order to keep the score line close.  Neither team never earned more than a two goal lead.  The first quarter ended in a stalemate after the Cadets matched the Raiders four goals.  Both Connor Eck (Franklin, Mass.)  and Alan Cozzolino (Hamden, Conn.) both scored a goal in man-up situations, the assists were credited to freshmen Michael Ference (Salem, N.H.) and Coby Mercier (Boscawen, N.H.) respectively.  The other two goals were posted to Matty Babb (Windham, Me.). 

The second quarter's scoreline consisted of one goal from each of the programs less than 30 seconds apart. Eck struck again off a Mercier dish in a man-up opportunity. Aside from the two goals it was a back and forth.  The Raiders forced the Cadets to 7 turnovers and went 7-9 in their clear atteampts. Freshman Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, Me.) fended off six saves on the quarter to keep the scorline even at the end of the first half. 

The second half of the game is where the Raiders lost momentum. The loan goal of the quarter was posted by Mercier un assisted. Mercier's goal was one of the five shots unleashed by the Raiders to find the back of the net ending the third period 8-6.  The final period belonged the home team as they tallied six unanswered goals. 

Sawyer Gagnon collected 18 saves on the match wrapping up a fantastic start to his collegiate career. The rookie pulled down a total of 88 saves touting a 56.4% save percentage.