Owls Top Men’s Lacrosse in Overtime

NASHUA, NH: Rivier men's lacrosse fell to Keene State in non-conference action this afternoon on Joanne Merrill Field.

THE BASICS:

- Date: 3/5/23

- Score: Keene 12, Rivier 11

- Records: Keene (1-3), Rivier (0-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED:

-  The Raiders got the ball rolling in the first quarter by going up 3-0 in quick succession. Michael Ference (Salem, NH) and Nicholas Tavares (Danvers, MA) went back and forth throughout the contest combining for ten of Rivier's goals. Ference got the Raiders on the board at 12:39, followed by Tavares at 8:46, then Ference again at 7:57.

- Keene would answer back with a man down score by Colby Quiet to put them down just two. Riv would go back up by three 30 seconds later on a man up opportunity that was capitalized on by Tavares. Nathan Sickles would bring it back to two for the owls at 5:24 in the first. Michael Zapatka (Newington, CT) would score the only other goal for the Raiders at 3:52 left to put the score at 5-2. The quarter would end with one more Keene goal by Quiet to take a two-goal deficit into the second quarter.

- The two teams continued to go back and forth, with Keene getting their second goal in a row to start it off by Andrew Miller. Ference would respond three minutes later to put the Raiders back up by a pair. Connor Woods brought it back within one before Ference netted his fourth goal of the game to get a 7-5 halftime score in favor of the home team.

- The second half saw Keene tie the game four times after falling behind by one. The third quarter started with two quick Owls scores by Sickles and Quiet to knot it up a 7-7. Tavares nets his third to give the lead back to Riv, but Quiet scores his fourth to tie it back up at 8-8 at the end of the third.

- The fourth was a one-for-one throughout, with Rivier taking the lead back 9-8 on another Tavares goal, but he was quickly answered by Miller just over a minute later. Ference then traded with Miller with the Raiders going up 10-9, then Ference's sixth goal put them up 11-10. The quarter ended with a Raiders penalty and a Cooper Cioffi goal to tie it and send it into OT.

- With just 2:41 left in overtime, the Owls finally took their first lead and the victory. Woods was credited with the final goal of the game.

- Sawyer Gagnon (Gorham, ME) was tagged with the loss (0-1) but had an impressive 26 save game in net. Charlie Giuliotti got the win (1-3) after making seven saves.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

-  Shots: Keene 62, Rivier 27

-  Groundballs: Keene 40, Rivier 23

-  Turnovers: Keene 16, Rivier 22

UP NEXT:

- Rivier men's lacrosse will be back on Wednesday when they travel to Castleton for a 7:00 PM contest.

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